Embitterment
by Glass Mermaid
Summary: He always knew his past would cost him, but he never knew the price. She always knew her future would catch her, but she didn't know how fast. Love isn't always beautiful; that doesn't stop the want of it. Winner of two 2009 Genesis Awards.
1. Prologue

Embitterment

By: Glass Mermaid

Disclaimer: I own nothing that you recognize.

Summary: He'd always known that his past would cost him, but he never knew the price. She always knew her future would catch her, but she didn't know how fast. Love isn't always beautiful; that doesn't stop the want.

AN: This takes place after the FFVII movie, Advent Children and Dirge of Cerberus. I've tried to remain as true as possible to canon.

This story jumps back and forth between a T rating and an M, with a hefty amount of swearing, some innuendo, sex, violence and blood. Read at your own discretion, or just skim over what you're uncomfortable with!

Also, this story is completed already. I will be posting chapters weekly, so that I can double check them all and make sure everything is correct. On with the show!

* * *

Prologue

* * *

His eyes were deceptively young for the kind of work he did, all carefree laughter and languid nonchalance. His face was too attractive and his smile too playful for a man who murdered as casually as he breathed. He moved limp and sinuous like an alley cat in the sun, his long limbed body a study of insolence.

"Oh Gaia, please, please help me," wept the man at his feet, hands tied so tightly behind his back that they were a deep and angry purple.

Throwing a half amused glance at his tall, silent partner, the redhead shrugged.

"Looks like she's not listening, pal," he sighed.

The man let out a terrified wail as Reno clubbed him indifferently with the heavy metal rod, and dragged his sweaty body further into a protective ball. He tipped his head up to stare at the Turk with horrible pleading eyes.

"Please stop, please! Gaia help me!"

Frowning, Reno listened for a long moment to the panic laden prayers, admiring the sheen of tears, snot and spit that was currently smeared all over the man's bruised face.

"You think she'd help an asshole like you?" he asked, morbidly curious. All he received in reply was another unintelligible cry of fear.

His PHS rang once before abruptly silencing, a signal to end the festivities. It was a blessing in disguise because he was starting to get annoyed. Releasing a loud sigh, Reno hefted the weight of his EMR comfortably in his hands and approached the weeping man. The man was a terrorist, a liar and a murderer, plotting petty, pointless catastrophes in order to further his group agenda. He dealt drugs and smuggled weapons into the new city of Edge and kept the old Midgar gang wars active in the slowly growing city, profiting off the pain and suffering of those around him. He was a terrible person. He was a dangerous person.

He began to gibber with terror when Reno pressed the cold, hard end of the EMR against his temple. Idly, the Turk wondered if this man now knew what his victims had felt before meeting their horrible deaths at his hand. He then wondered if he himself would one day be the man kneeling on the floor, dripping with blood and tears, while another held death in his hands.

"Gaia! Gaia, help me!" The weeping man continued to pray.

He flicked his weapon on to its highest setting.

"Fuck ups like you and me," Reno murmured, blue white light washing eerily over his blank face as electricity jumped and crackled and the man's keening wails were abruptly silenced, "just don't get the hero treatment from that bitch."

The body fell with an awkward thump, and his lips twisted at the heavy, greasy smell of charred flesh filling the room. He raised his eyes to the silent form of Rude, and jerked his head towards the door.

"Want a drink?" he asked offhand, tapping his weapon against his shoulder.

Rude nodded.

They filed out, leaving the smoking corpse without a backward glance.

He had finished the mission. He had no regrets.

* * *

Reviews are appreciated, always.


	2. Chapter 1

Embitterment

By: Glass Mermaid

Disclaimer: I own nothing that you recognize.

Summary: He'd always known that his past would cost him, but he never knew the price. She always knew her future would catch her, but she didn't know how fast. Love isn't always beautiful; that doesn't stop the want.

AN: This story is my way of kind of… justifying playful, comedic Advent Children with cynical, cocky FFVII Reno. I figure you don't just drop a plate and kill thousands without losing a bit of yourself.

Also, this story is completed already. I will be posting chapters weekly, so that I can double check them all and make sure everything is correct. On with the show!

* * *

Chapter One

* * *

_What to do? Have you lost your way? When that happens we each have to take a  
good look at our hearts. There's always something forgotten. Remember it...  
Whatever that is, must certainly be what you are looking for..._

Bugenhagen, Final Fantasy VII

* * *

Saving the world had a completely different set of rules for the after party, and where as Turks they had been feared-hated-cursed, as klutzy heroes they were cheered-praised-thanked. Reno couldn't walk down the streets of Edge without people whispering wildly exaggerated tales of gratuitous heroism.

It was damn irritating since he knew that there was barely a grain of truth to the rumors anymore, but it was better than the entire city knowing he'd had his ass handed to him by one of those silver haired freaks, or running him out of town for the things he'd done as a Turk during the last ten years.

At first it had been gratifying, followed swiftly by annoying, but after a little old lady grabbed his hand and kissed it for far,_ far_ too long, Reno decided he would think very hard before helping to save a world again.

Rude had merely shrugged when he mentioned this, hand noticeably unmolested.

Today, Reno was sauntering along the sidewalk with Rude by his side, debating on whether or not he wanted to crash Seventh Heaven and hit on Tifa while other men glared at him uselessly, or if he'd rather steal Elena's spiffy new submachine gun and see how long it took the blonde to come after him.

"I'm bored," he groaned, tossing a sidelong look at his silent partner. "This city is as fast and as interesting as your witty repartee."

He had tempted fate. It is only natural fate kicked him in the face so Rude wouldn't have to. Gesturing slightly with his chin, the man directed the redhead's attention to the potential excitement heading their way. He peered into the lazily moving masses, and his sharp ears caught the tail end of a high-pitched squeal of annoyance.

Reno rolled his eyes, casting a significant glare at his partner as if he were to blame.

"Excuse me! Pardon me! Let me through! Tons of stuff to do! Ouch! Don't glower at _me_ mister, or I'll whoop your butt into next Sunday! Out of my way! Excuse me _again_!"

Hastily shoving her way through the grumbling populace was that little ninja chick, Yuffie. He could occasionally see her dark head pop up as she jiggled and jostled through the crowd, her heavy bandana a wink of vibrant blue against a sea of gray.

"Um, jerk much? No pushing! Important mission in progress here!"

She was barreling past the two men, apparently content to ignore them, when Reno reached out and snatched the back of her ridiculous little vest, pulling her to an abrupt stop. She yelped loudly, and a few of the more battered people clapped for the Turks.

"Shut it!" she shouted back, turning and glaring at Reno. He let go of her clothes.

"I didn't see you, Turkey, or I would have run even faster," she grinned and stuck out her tongue. "But you can moon over my extraordinarily lovely self later. Right now I have to go go go!"

She threw an edgy glance over her shoulder, practically jogging on the spot.

"What's the rush, kid? Steal something?"

Surreptitiously, he checked to make sure his wallet was still in his pocket. She jumped and craned her neck trying to see over the rushing throng, but was apparently unsatisfied. Turning to Rude, she sized him up thoughtfully before nodding, and the next moment she had scrambled around him and up his back; all long legs and hyperactive speed, until she settled herself on his shoulders.

"Thanks for the lift, big guy!" she crowed. Rude remained unflappable.

"Get the fuck down, brat! Rude's not a ladder!" Reno shouted, irritated.

"Rude, huh? Sorry, I totally forgot your name," she apologized and patted his bald head teasingly. He acted as if there was not a ninja with her legs wrapped around his neck and nodded, accepting the apology as his due.

"Don't ignore me!" Reno snarled.

Yuffie pretended to shield her eyes from the sun and peered into the crowd before letting out a gasp of terror and starting to scamper back off the black man.

"Been nice chatting but I've got _tons_ of important ninja stuff to do. Stuff that you wouldn't understand because it's all ancient and spiritual and totally top-secret cool. The kind of stuff you'd sell your right arm to know about but sorry, I've got all the right arms I need so I'll just –"

Her blathering was halted when Rude calmly lifted her off of him and held her at arms length. Reno noticed with an abrupt shift of interest that she had obscenely long legs and that her shirt was riding very high up her midriff, but he didn't have time to notice anything else because whatever the girl had been running from had caught up.

Turning, Reno saw the crowd parting before the tall, crimson cloaked form of Vincent Valentine. Yuffie was struggling frantically to get down, but Rude held her fast.

"Come on! I thought you were the nice one, you great bald jerk! You're so mean picking on a helpless little girl like this! I've got diplomatic immunity! I'm the Great Ninja Yuffie Kisaragi so let me _go_!" she screeched.

"Yuffie," Vincent said quietly, and she went limp, peering sheepishly over her shoulder.

"Aww, you win again, Vincent. Tag, I'm it! Put me down now, Rudey Rudey Rude!"

He did not.

"I don't have it! I lost it! Monsters stole it! I ate it! _They_ ate it!" she yammered on, and they ignored her.

Meeting the red eyes of the former Turk expressionlessly, Rude passed her to the other man. She was too limber and quicksilver fast to be trusted with total freedom.

"We shall see," Vincent murmured, holding tight to the collar of the girl's vest and drawing Reno's attention to the fact that he was missing his heavy bronze gauntlet.

"No, no! Come on, Vincent, it was a joke! I'll give it back! I didn't eat it because it's _pointy_. Put me down!"

"You cannot be trusted," he said somberly.

"Well duh, you've _always_ known that!" she pouted, dancing foolishly on her tiptoes as Vincent kept a tight, high hold on her clothing. He nodded once at the Turks before he turned around and flowed eerily back into the parted crowd, seemingly oblivious to the twitchy ninja trying to squirm away.

"This is all your fault! You're not ultra suave like me and I was worried you'd get hurt! I _had_ to take it! I'm trying to save you from yourself!" she wailed, her voice beginning to grow quieter as the distance between them grew. "I wasn't going to do anything bad, just clone you! I could have like, ten Vincent bodyguards. Don't you want to protect me Vincent? _Don't _you? I said I was sorry…"

Reno and Rude watched them go, suddenly appreciating silence on a whole new level.

"She's…" Reno tried.

"…" Rude replied.

"Yea," he agreed.

"Great legs," Rude added.

"Shame about the mouth," Reno sighed. "That, and she totally ignored me."

"Yes," the darker man said, mouth twitching.

They continued to watch the two until they disappeared completely.

"She got my tie," Rude murmured quietly, and wide-eyed, Reno looked to see that sure enough, the large man's nice black tie was conspicuously absent. He began to laugh raucously, pointing at his partner.

"She got your elastic."

His smile dropped off his face as he reached up, grabbing for his ponytail only to feel the loose strands of red spilling down his back and through his fingers. He cursed and shut his mouth.

"I hate ninjas," he grimaced, and the two continued on their way, several objects lighter.

* * *

Reno sauntered into the conference room at the Healin Lodge, Rufus Shinra's home base of sorts, Rude following. He grinned at Elena, who nodded at him primly, and then gave his leader a more respectful nod. Tseng gave him a warning look that signified he be on his best behavior. Reno shrugged and threw himself into one of the available chairs, leaning back too far to be safe and putting his dirty shoes on the table.

"Where's the boss man?" he asked.

"Rufus will be here shortly," Tseng replied easily, and returned his gaze to the thick sheaf of papers he had been reading over.

Rude took a seat across the table from his partner, content to cross his arms and be silent. Reno was never so composed, and pulled his legs off the table, sat up, and tapped his foot impatiently against the floor.

"You bring cards?" he asked Rude. The other man shook his head and Reno cursed.

Sighing, the redhead took out a pack of cigarettes and lit one, jamming it between his lips.

"Disgusting, Reno!" Elena frowned, "I thought you quit those things years ago!"

"I did," he snorted. "I smoke them when I'm edgy is all."

"That's just foolish," she said disapprovingly. "It defeats the entire purpose of stopping."

Reno rolled his eyes. "Sorry Elena, I guess I'm just not a quitter."

"Well, put it out. Just because you like smoke in your lungs doesn't mean we do," she complained.

In reply, he blew a cloud of smoke in her direction. She coughed, waving as much of it as she could away while he snickered.

The door opened, and Rufus swept into the room more gracefully than any man who'd lived through what he had, had the right to. The only indication that the aristocratic leader had lived through WEAPON, Meteor and Geostigma at all was the slight limp in his right leg. He gestured briefly to Tseng, and the dark haired man moved to stand sentinel by the door.

"Reno," Rufus drawled, "put out that revolting thing."

"Sure thing, boss," he said, immediately crushing the cigarette out against the table.

Elena glared at him murderously. He blew her a kiss.

"Tseng, is the area secure?" Rufus asked, picking up a beige folder from the table.

"Yes, sir," the Wutaian replied.

Nodding, the blonde man plucked a sheet from the folder and slid it to the middle of the table. A picture of a heavy, ruddy-faced man sat in the top left of the paper, the rest was text and numbers. Reno glanced at it briefly, than looked away, disinterested.

"Levus Phelps, alias Border, one of five terrorist leaders of the Garrison group," Rufus recited, bored.

He acknowledged Reno and Rude with a nod in their direction.

"He was silenced three days ago, but we've just received word from Reeve that he passed on a warning to several _colleagues_ when he realized we were tailing him. They have since gone underground. We have operatives all over the planet tracking them down, but this will take time. You've already been briefed on the four outstanding targets, and know your orders. If your paths cross, your objective is to silence them as cleanly as possible. That means no witnesses, no casualties."

Pinching his narrow nose, Rufus sighed. "As you know, they have been meddling where they should not be, but things are becoming more... convoluted. They've organized. They're calling themselves The Garrison Group, or something equally ridiculous."

Irritated, Rufus swept around the table, his lengthy white coat brushing their chairs. He halted, closing his eyes.

"They have been attempting to dig up whatever information they can about me, about us, and they have even tried disrupting our funding of the World Regenesis Organization. Though they are unlike AVALANCHE in their goals, we will not make the mistake of underestimating them."

His blue eyes opened, tired, and Reno found himself studying the ring of mako green that surrounded both of his employers irises. He wondered if his own was as distinct.

"Sir?" Elena drew his attention towards her, worried.

Rufus offered her a tired smile. "I'm fine, though I find this situation wearisome."

He shrugged elegantly, picking up another folder and opening it. "I knew that it would be difficult to repay the debt I owe this planet, but I never realized my attempts would be met with such aggressive opposition."

"Should we continue, sir?" Tseng asked quietly from his position by the door. "We can carry on tomorrow, if necessary."

"Don't coddle me, Tseng," their boss frowned, a smooth coldness settling over his handsome features.

He cast a cool eye over his Turks. Though he was unlikely to admit it, he was deeply appreciative of the loyalty and dedication they'd shown. They'd proven themselves to him repeatedly, and he trusted none but they to protect him and his interests. Tseng was dark and elegant, a commanding leader and a trusted friend. The rookie, Elena, though a rookie no longer, had learned to hold her own. Rude, who had been with them for what seemed to be forever, was powerful, hardnosed, and efficient, and lastly, there was Reno.

"Please keep your feet on the floor, Reno," he appealed tiredly.

"Okay, boss," the redhead replied.

Insolent, aggressive, resourceful and ruthless Reno.

Rufus took out several sheets of paper and handed them out. He had assembled all he could about the Garrison group, and as it stood now, they were only one step ahead. He disliked such a small advantage.

"This is the latest intelligence Reeve has sent. When Phelps was silenced, their supply of weaponry and equipment was cut off with him, but we can expect him to be replaced shortly. Until then, we work on what we know.

"The first woman," he began, "is their tactician, alias Moat. She has some expertise and field knowledge. As far as we know, she strictly uses artillery when she fights."

"Next is their communications expert and all around weasel, alias Bridge. He's rather good at getting information, using whatever means he deems necessary, and fights with artillery as well."

Walking around the table, arms behind his back, Rufus continued.

"Third is alias Terrain. The muscle, obviously. One look at him and you can see he doesn't have the brains to do much else," Rufus said with a derisive snort. "He's a brawler, fists and all that. He's also their leaders bodyguard."

"We don't know the name of their leader, though he goes by the alias Keep. From what our intelligence has told us, there are strong indications that he is our very own Heidegger, presumed dead. Surprise, surprise."

Snorting, Reno tossed his sheet onto the table and crossed his arms. "That tubby idiot? You really think he could head something like this?"

"Undoubtedly," Rufus replied, amused. "He _was_ one of my staff. I don't hire idiots now, do I Reno?"

He stared pointedly at the redhead, who sulked and shrugged. Tseng stepped forward, taking the papers from Elena, who had gathered them up.

"If we're finished here, Rufus, you're expected at a meeting," he prodded politely.

"Of course," he nodded. "Meeting adjourned."

Last to arrive but always first to leave, Reno jogged to the door. Heading up the narrow staircase towards the exit, he walked backwards in front of the relentlessly slow paced Rude. His fiery hair almost glowed in the shadows of the corridors as he kept ahead of his friend.

"Rude, you taking off?" he grinned.

The other man nodded. "I got places to be."

Reno let out a mocking whistle, waggling his eyebrows. "Look at the king of popularity here! Should I kneel? Should I bow?"

Cracking his knuckles, Rude looked the smaller man up and down. "It'd make it easier to kick your ass."

Reno sniggered, and as he approached the door, checked to make sure his EMR was safely holstered and ready. "Fiesty, I like that."

Waving at the darker man, Reno pointed at his PHS. "I've got to do something in Edge for Tseng. Check in," he reminded him. Rude nodded, and the two parted ways.

* * *

An hour and a half later, Reno was ready to cut and run and just accept the lecture on responsibility he was sure to get from a dour Tseng.

He was in the old, run down church the Ancient used to hang around in making dopey faces at Fair and growing flowers, and after she had been killed, it had been Cloud Strife's angst-ridden hangout before all that freaky Lifestream healing garbage happened. Now, the strange pool of water that had sprung up from the dead earth remained while her flowers were no more. Hadn't it been like some crazy, mystical healing water from beyond the grave? He thought it would be protected or something, but then again, the world never seemed to have its priorities straight.

Or maybe her presence was still here, keeping potential enemies at bay. It was getting dark. He didn't know whether he should feel safe or edgy after all the trouble the Turks had put Aerith Gainsborough through.

And where the hell was Valentine anyway? Tseng had requested that he come here to retrieve intelligence courtesy of Reeve from the creepy ex-Turk, but that damn red cloak and those unnerving crimson eyes weren't anywhere in sight and he was tired of waiting.

Leaning back against one of the only remaining pillars in the church, Reno took out his PHS and prepared to dial Tseng.

He felt the slight shifting of his bangs, the only indication of another presence his keen senses detected at all, and spun away from the pillar, phone away and EMR immediately in place. Eyes narrowed, he glanced above where he had just been, finding a large pair of mischievous eyes peering down at him.

"Good instincts, Turkey," she grinned, tucking his sunglasses into her dark hair.

"You?" he frowned, and tucked his weapon back into its holster.

Yuffie raised herself from her crouch, bringing her legs out from beneath her and plunking her rear down on the uneven wreckage of the column. She must have snuck in through the large hole in the wall, and brat that she was, decided to make herself known by rather unorthodox means.

"Don't look so down," she huffed, "I might get the impression you don't like me."

Snorting, Reno crossed his arms. "Couldn't you use the goddamn door?" he asked.

"Doors are for people without imagination," she replied with a grin.

She kicked her legs against the pillar, and he was fixated for a moment by her strange black boots and the single yellow strap on each one. She had paired the rubber things with a set of tiny orange shorts, a purple tank top, a bunch of seemingly useless belts and pouches, and a single blue gauntlet on her forearm. Still, he had to give her bonus points for those incredible legs.

"What happened to that hot little black and white number you were wearing a couple days back? The one that had those knee high white boots," he asked accusingly.

"It's around," she said, rolling her eyes. "I like to change it up a little unlike_some_ people."

Annoyed, Reno uncrossed his arms and shifted his weight to his other leg. He was tired of standing around.

"What are you doing here anyway, you little pest? I was expecting Valentine," he griped.

"Vincent," she scowled, offended by his lack of enthusiasm to see her, "was off doing whatever totally dark, sorrowful things brooding gothic gunners do when they're alone – which is always, if you wanted to know – so he asked me to come instead."

She halted, eyes narrowing. "Anyway, I could ask you the same thing! I, the great ninja Yuffie Kisaragi, was expecting the polite and stylish Tseng, not some sloppy jerk who totally looks like Ifrit puked on his head!"

Touching his spiked hair defensively, Reno glared up at the tiny girl. Where did the scrawny little imp get off insulting his look when she was little more then huge eyes and a gigantic shuriken? He looked her over again, taking a moment to ogle her bare thighs, and decided it could have been worse. He glanced at her disappointing chest and thought of Lockhart. It could have been better too.

"Whatever," he sighed. "Do you have it?"

"What makes you think I'll give the stuff to you?" she demanded. "Vincent said it was for _Tseng_. _You_ are not Tseng. _You_ are Reno."

"Your powers of observation are amazing, kid," he snapped. "Look, I've been waiting over an hour for you, and it's fucking fantastic that you decided to finally show up, but I've got booze to drink, chicks to do, and bars to be. So give me my sunglasses and the damn package and get out of my hair."

He stopped for a minute, glaring at her. "My _awesome_ hair," he corrected.

Yuffie's eyes narrowed, and she drew her legs up out of his reach, standing. A part of her was tempted to just leave and not give him the stupid information at all. Another part of her wanted him to eat his words. The final part of her knew that Vincent would look at her, all disapproving frowns and _another-blight-to-add-to-my-misery _eyes, if she came back with the mission failed.

But looking down at him, she decided he was far too cocky, far too sexy, and far too dirty mouthed to just let his insults slide.

"Okay, okay," she sighed, pretending to give up. She made a grand show of hopping down from the column and landing in front of him.

Reno watched suspiciously as she proceeded to pat down her clothing, looking more and more upset as the seconds passed. Finally she stopped, peering up at him sheepishly.

"Um, I lost it?" she winced.

Reno closed his eyes and tried to breath.

"You lost it?" he asked tonelessly.

"Looks like," she mumbled.

"Like, as in gone? As in, our secret intelligence from the WRO is sitting on the ground somewhere anyone could find it and use it against us? Sell it to the highest bidder? Get themselves _killed_ for it?!" as he spoke his voice rose and rose, until he was shouting at the suddenly meek ninja.

Her lower lip trembled, and she looked up at him, doe eyed and sad, twisting her hands in front of her. She looked very small, and very sorry.

"I didn't mean to," she whispered.

Reno almost felt himself relenting, his anger giving way to pity. She was just a stupid kid. She probably wasn't used to all this subterfuge and secrecy. He'd just have to call up Tseng, tell him what happened, and do some damage control. Call it momentary lunacy. Call him a sucker for a nice set of legs. Call him stupid. But he forgot, for a moment, he was looking at a ninja and a thief who had probably learned to lie before she learned to walk.

"Okay, look," he grimaced, "why don't you retrace your steps and try to find the goddamn thing? I'll call Tseng and find out what steps to take."

She nodded silently, and once again withdrawing his handset, Reno dialed the number for his leader. He turned away, trying to restrain his anger and annoyance with the incompetent girl.

"Tseng," a cool voice announced after a single ring.

"Hey, Reno here," he began, "it looks like –"

All at once he felt something push him, hard, and he went sprawling forward, limbs flailing. He didn't even have time to swear as he felt the PHS get snatched from his hand, and he hit the cold water of the church with a stinging splash. Coming up coughing, he found his footing and turned around disbelievingly, eyes wide.

Yuffie had his PHS against her ear and was laughing into it, watching him triumphantly from her very dry, very guilty position.

"No, no Tseng, everything is _awesome_ on my end! You really ought to consider hiring some better guys though. This one seems a bit _hopeless_, you know? He got lost and made me wait for like, over an hour for him, and now he just went and fell flat on his face! Between you and me? I think he's a bit of a drunk."

Reno, teeth bared, slogged through the water towards her, intent on revenge. She backpedaled rapidly, eyes laughing.

"I'd better go help the klutz get back on his feet. Bye Tseng!" she snickered, hanging up and struck a triumphant pose.

"I'm going to wipe the floor with you," Reno snarled.

Yuffie scuttled away, undaunted.

"I think you'd make the better mop at this point," she grinned.

"You'd best keep backing up," he warned, "because if I catch you, I'm going to kick your ass _so hard_."

Cackling, Yuffie tossed him his phone, followed by something else. He glanced down, seeing that it was a small black square, no doubt the disc of information that she said was lost.

When he glanced back up she had disappeared, probably still laughing what little rear end she had off.

"I seriously hate ninjas," he groaned to nobody in particular, and stormed out of the church.

* * *

Reviews are always read and appreciated.


	3. Chapter 2

Embitterment

By: Glass Mermaid

Disclaimer: I own nothing that you recognize.

AN: RenoxYuffie for the win! Since these are the first few chapters, I figured I could post some more frequently so maybe more people would see it and get interested.

Also, this story is completed already. I will be posting chapters weekly, so that I can double check them all and make sure everything is correct. On with the show.

* * *

Chapter Two

* * *

Reno knocked once before entering the small office in the Healin Lodge, quickly taking in the sight of Tseng working on some late night paperwork on the wide desk that sat by the window and the silent form of Rude standing at the window behind him. He paced before the desk once, twice, before Tseng deigned to look up. The darker man studied the still soaking Turk without any discernable reaction, which sent the redhead's temper skyrocketing.

"Did you know that obnoxious little brat was going to be there?" Reno fumed.

Tseng shrugged, unrepentant. "I was aware that her highness was attending the appointment in Valentine's place, yes."

"Why the fuck didn't you _tell_ me?" he scowled. "The little bitch got the drop on me!"

He plucked his sopping shirt away from his clammy skin with disgust. "Little tart, prancing around in those itty bitty shorts all, _Reno, I'm so sorry! I'm just a helpless little thing with my big dumb eyes and my long legs!_"

Watching him from his comfortable seat with amusement, the Wutaian contemplated his earlier conversation with the girl in question.

"Perhaps she was right," Tseng mused, "and I ought to consider hiring more competent people."

"Don't, Tseng. Just don't," Reno snapped.

"I didn't find out until twenty minutes prior, Reno. Valentine dislikes phones."

Rude, turning slightly from the window, met his friends irritated blue eyes.

"You mad because somebody got the best of you, or you mad because _she_ did?"

Annoyed, Reno narrowed his eyes. "Listen to Mister Philosophy here! I'd forgotten you knew how to string more than two words together!"

Rude shrugged, turning back to the window.

"Now, now, Reno," Tseng chided, calling the redheads attention back to him. "I wasn't aware you had history with Lady Kisaragi."

"I do _not_ have_history_ with that_ brat_! The most contact I've had with your precious goddamn princess is a couple fights way back when she was still just a couple of knobby knees and a big mouth, then whatever video feed I saw of her fighting Bahamut. And you know what? I could have lived with that just _fine_."

"Than I fail to see why you are so aggravated by a bit of water, Reno," Tseng sighed.

Truthfully, he didn't know why he was so pissed off. Maybe he didn't like being made a fool of. Or, like Rude had suggested, maybe he didn't like looking less than his best in front of a girl like her. She was an AVALANCHE member and part of a group of people who _always_ seemed to get the best of him. It was getting annoying.

Aggravated and cold, Reno stomped over to the window and tried to see what Rude was looking at so intently. He saw nothing.

"We good?" he offered as an inept apology.

"Yep," Rude replied, and Reno heaved a relieved sigh. He turned back to Tseng with a dark grin.

"How much does Wutai need that girl?" he asked slyly. The black eyes of the other man rested on him briefly before returning to his paperwork.

"She is integral to the Wutaian empire," he said. "If something were to happen to her, it would have dire consequences for the country. Godo is aging, he cannot sire new heirs, and the people are still suffering from the Shinra War. To lose her would create confusion and fear within the masses. When she becomes ruler, drastic changes will be made, but because she is one of the ancient house that has ruled over Wutai for generations, they will be accepted willingly. She is essential to the future."

"Oh," Reno said, thwarted. "I was hoping I could murder her or something."

"I'd prefer you didn't."

A new voice broke into the conversation and Rufus walked tiredly through the door with Elena at his heels. She shut it behind them, nodding politely to the three men already there.

"I heard you had a small accident at the church," the blonde man said, glancing disinterestedly at the wet Turk. A small smirk flickered over his face. "But nothing that requires a political assassination."

"Why does it have to be political?" Reno asked disbelievingly, "Why can't it be personal? Can you honestly say you don't look that brat in the face and want to smack her?"

Rufus shrugged. "When I look at Yuffie Kisaragi, I see a vibrant, attractive, if a tad ill-behaved young woman, who greatly enjoys life."

Reno made a face, looking away. Elena smiled, moving to stand beside Tseng. "You sound fond of her, sir."

"I'm sure Tseng would say the same," he sighed, taking a seat.

"The princess is a pretty creature," Tseng agreed, very much _not _glancing at the blonde beside him. "Though I prefer fairer coloring."

Reno looked to Rude for support. "What about you, man? Tell me you aren't hot for the brat?"

Rude shrugged. "I'm not."

"Good," Reno sighed.

"Great legs though," Rude murmured.

Throwing up his hands, Reno tossed open the door and threw an aggravated glance over his shoulder in time to catch Elena exchanging a surreptitious grin with Rude.

"Yea, yea," he griped, "laugh it up now. When I'm through with that kid, she'll think twice before shoving Turks into goddamn spooky pools of water."

They didn't bother waiting until he was out of earshot before they began to laugh.

* * *

The Turks didn't come to Seventh Heaven very often, never quite sure if the air between Tifa and Shinra had been completely cleared yet. The beautiful bartender was always kind and polite to them, but it was easy to sense her hesitancy. Cloud Strife, on the other hand, was civil and no more, though he had been getting better. Tonight, however, a week after his dunking in the church, Reno had revenge in mind. He'd heard from Elena that the thieving, deceitful ninja was staying at the bar, so he'd suggested they head that way. Rude had merely shrugged when they told him of their plans, tapping his watch significantly to let Reno know that when his shift as Rufus's bodyguard was over, he expected him to arrive on time to take his place. Reno hadn't planned on getting drunk anyway, he had some business to attend.

The thief still had his sunglasses.

"Hi guys," Tifa called to them when the four entered the crowded bar, pointing them in the direction of a free table. Elena smiled her thanks, and they took their seats.

Reno kept a sharp eye out for Yuffie, but the girl was nowhere to be seen. He didn't know what he was going to do when he saw her, though a good hard beat down came to mind. A nasty grin spread over his face, and lost in his thoughts, he was unaware of the dubious look Tseng threw in his direction.

"Whew!" Tifa said, smiling as she came to their table. "It's busy tonight! What can I get for you?"

Tseng ordered a beer and Elena a spiked coffee. Reno got his usual shot of whiskey, and Tifa returned with them after a short wait.

"How have you guys been?" she asked pleasantly.

"Great, thanks," Elena replied, smiling brightly at the other woman, "and you?"

"Oh, you know," Tifa shrugged cheerfully, "same old."

Whether same old meant still pining after Cloud Strife while he wandered on oblivious to her feelings or not, nobody commented. She made to leave, giving them a small wave, when Reno stopped her.

"Where's Yuffie?" he asked, pretending to peer around inquiringly. "I heard she was staying with you."

"Yuffie? Yea," she said curiously. "I think she's in her room. Why?"

Reno stood up while the other Turks looked on in confusion. "Seriously? She's here? Can I go see her?"

"Um, okay, I guess. I didn't know you guys were friends," Tifa shrugged.

"Yuffie and me, we go way back," he grinned, and if Tifa didn't believe him, she didn't bother saying so.

"Up the stairs," she pointed hesitantly, "second door on the right. Be quiet though, the kids are asleep."

Nodding, Reno swaggered across the bar and up the steps, shaking his head at how gullible the sweet bartender was. He stood for a moment in front of the second door, debating on whether or not he should just barge in, but ultimately deciding that he wouldn't look as hot with a throwing star embedded in his skull. He knocked instead.

"Come in if you have food!" her voice, muffled by the door, was still shrill.

He shoved open the door, swaggered in, and shut it behind him. Yuffie was, of all things, standing on her hands against the wall, upside down for whatever reason. He stopped for a moment, staring at her blankly, and she in turn stared right back, mouth agape.

"Reno!" she yelped, and in an awkward scramble to right herself, ended up tumbling into a clumsy heap on the floor.

She righted herself, face red, and blew her hair out of her face.

"Gawd! What are you doing in my room, pervert!" she shouted.

Reno smirked, sauntering around and poking at the meager scattering of paraphernalia he found. She was obviously expecting retribution, and it felt damn good to have her on edge.

"Didn't I say I was going to kick you ass when I caught you?" he asked her.

"_If_," she stressed, watching him warily. "You said _if_ you caught me."

"Than I'm here to catch you," Reno shrugged, moving towards her.

Yuffie hurried to her feet and studied him doubtfully, skittering out of his reach.

"You actually think you can take me, Turkey?" she scoffed arrogantly, a jaunty grin spreading across her face.

She was nice to look at, Reno thought, even if she wasn't his type. Her eyes were huge, dark, and fringed with thick black lashes. Her nose was pert and cute, her lips full, and her body was nothing to scoff at. If she could manage to keep her mouth shut, he might have even called her beautiful.

"I know I can," he said smugly, voice dropping in timbre as he decided that if she could use girlish charm to trick him, he could use his own brand.

She paused beside a small, beat up desk, lifting up what he quickly recognized were his sunglasses, and putting them in her hair with a flippant air.

"I think you're bluffing," she snorted as he paced forward, getting close enough to grab her.

He shrugged, his eyes catching on a small picture on the desk. "I might be," he said, distracted.

The picture was an awkward angle of a grinning, waving Reeve and an emotionless Vincent Valentine who was gazing at the camera without expression. Behind them both stood a tentatively smiling young girl with short, light brown hair. He'd seen her before in Rufus's files.

"Shelley?" he asked, picking it up and taking a closer look.

"That's Shelke. Don't tell me you're fascinated with the little midget too," she said sourly.

Reno eyed her for a moment. "She might be an adult on the inside, but she still looks like a baby on the outside," he said, then threw her what he hoped was a disarming grin. "Besides, Yuffie, if I want a girl enough, I get her name right."

She suddenly looked unsure, eyes widening for a moment and her mouth dropping open. Reno sighed inwardly, because she might have been able to hand him his ass in a fight, but she was clearly inexperienced when it came to the battle of the sexes. He decided to cut her a break. If he liked her at all (and he didn't) it was when she was cocky and self-assured.

"I thought you were some big shot WRO agent, head of espionage and intelligence and all that. How come you're not out there harassing Reeve, anyway?" he asked offhand, returning his eyes to the photograph.

She plucked it out of his hand; turning it over and studying it, lips pursed.

"The real question is how come you're in my bedroom harassing _me_," she said, a small grin flickering momentarily over her face. "Anyway, I kind of came here for a couple days, for like, a holiday, and ended up staying."

She glanced at him from underneath her lashes, as if she expected him to condemn her.

"I don't know. It's hard to stay put," she offered distantly, realizing that up close he was even better looking then she'd thought. She blinked, her breath catching.

"Not my problem, kid," he murmured.

She frowned, glaring up at him mutinously as the soft femininity that had momentarily settled over her evaporated.

"Gawd! Who knew you were such a jerk?" she screeched irately.

Reno looked at her dubiously. "Everyone?"

"Well, thanks for the rude reminder, Turkey. You can leave anytime now," she glowered, stepping back as far as she could from the egotistical redhead.

If he got in her face once more, she was going to clobber him. Only, he did - so close that his open coat brushed the bare skin of her stomach - and she didn't smack him like he so richly deserved. Instead, she found herself wishing she wore more clothing because she felt like her skin was suddenly extra sensitive and his tattoos were so defined from here and for a guy who looked so ill kept he sure smelled nice... Yuffie's mouth parted, and she realized that the Turk was talking. She focused with effort.

"For a while there, with your enormous mouth shut, you looked kind of hot," he smirked. "You ought to work on that."

The fluttery, electric feelings in her body shut off abruptly.

"I should _so_ totally call for Cloud right now! I'd whoop you myself if I didn't know he'd probably sell Fenrir for a chance to kick your butt again!" she hissed.

"Strife? Nah, he and Rufus have an understanding now," he grinned, a touch of cruelty edging the friendly expression. "We're good guys now."

Yuffie's eyes narrowed. "You're a murdering, blackmailing, kidnapping, killer."

His smile widened into something darker.

"Don't ever forget that," he warned.

Yuffie decided she was seriously tired of his narcissistic, confusing and downright offensive presence.

"Okay," she sighed, glancing pointedly at the door, "can you stop acting like a drama queen and get out now? I've got things to think about… More important than wasting time with _you_ things."

Reno shrugged. He didn't care about whatever soul searching she was doing. He was having a better time trying to figure out what the soft scent wafting off of her skin was. For a while, she had seemed to forget what he was there for, and if anything, had become more interested in his flirtations than the need to escape. Things were turning sour though, and he thought it best to bring this little annoyance to a close and get his bit of retribution while he was ahead.

A slow smile crossed his features, one cheerful and open unlike the last, and he leaned into her personal space, eyes growing heavy lidded when he saw the reluctant interest darkening her eyes even further. The smile grew.

"How about you give me my sunglasses back?" he whispered.

"How about," she said unsteadily, shifting away, "you get out of my room?"

He shrugged, sidling closer to her. She was tiny really, barely coming up to his shoulder, and he decided that she smelled like soap and tangerines. She blinked up at him, eyes mutinous but softening with want and uncertainty. He leaned down, nuzzling the silky column of her neck. He felt her quiver, swallowing.

"What are you doing?" she squeaked shakily, defensively, but a blush grew in her cheeks.

"I'm just," he breathed, lips tingling against her skin, "taking back what's mine."

Swiftly, he snatched his sunglasses off of her head and straightened, tucking them back into his own hair. She glared at him, having expected as much, and pointed at the door.

"Out, out, out!" she shrieked, stomping her foot against the floor with each word.

Reno snickered, waggling his eyebrows at her as he strolled to the door and tossed it open.

"I suppose I'm just_hopeless_," he smirked, and shut the door behind him.

"You're sick, Turkey!" she shrieked, bested, but after a moment she felt a grin tugging her lips upwards.

Her heart was racing. She felt like screaming and laughing and maybe chasing after him and planting big fat kisses on his way-too-pretty-to-be-allowed-anywhere-near-her-ever-again face. Pressing her cool hands against her fiery cheeks, she watched the door until she was sure he was gone before shaking her head and snickering quietly.

"I hate Turks," she muttered, a sloppy and lopsided grin lighting her face.

* * *

Edge was quiet today, a fact that had grated on Yuffie's nerves for several hours before she'd ventured out of Tifa's bar and into the streets. There were no celebrations to attend, no parties to crash, no concerts or plays or any good materia sales. She would have sold her favorite pair of boots for some second rate villain to come and start bullying old people or stealing candy from kittens or something.

"Couple flicks of my shuriken and _kablam! _Sayonara, baddies!" she crowed, throwing a punch at her imaginary foes.

Several of the passersby threw her odd looks, which she ignored. It wasn't her fault their city was so boring she ended up stir crazy and talking to herself. She stuck out her tongue at a young woman who was staring like she had a bug on her face and the girl looked away, cowed. Inwardly, Yuffie applauded her super ultra tough intimidation skills. She'd have to try them out later on Cloud.

She continued to meander along the sidewalks, picking the occasional pocket in order to see if anybody had anything good, or keeping her eyes open for interesting happenings. Sadly, nothing popped up. She was deciding between heading back to Seventh Heaven and attempting to steal the Fenrir once again, or getting herself as lost as she could in the city before finding her way back to the bar, when her PHS rang.

She did a giddy little dance of triumph, because if it rang it meant something was happening_somewhere_, and then lifted it to her ear.

"Who so desires to hear the melodious sound of my voice?" she asked sweetly, grinning.

For a moment there was only silence, then a deep, composed voice came down the line.

"Yuffie."

She stopped in her tracks, her smile fading as she cursed herself for forgetting to check the display. "Vincent?"

"Yes," he replied.

"Oh," she swallowed, suddenly feeling unsure and clumsy. "What can I do for you, tall dark and gloomy?"

Again there was nothing but a long pause.

"I stopped by Seventh Heaven. I wanted to thank you," he said finally, "for meeting Tseng in my place."

Some of her cheer returning, Yuffie resumed her walk through the quiet crowds.

"It was a total walk in the park! Well, to be fair, it was a walk in the church, but, I mean, in the end it could have been either and it's like, a saying or something anyway so–"

"Yuffie," Vincent interrupted her rant.

She swallowed. "Yea?"

"Reeve wants to know when you will be returning."

Yuffie grit her teeth, closing her eyes for a moment and wishing, very hard, that she knew more swear words.

"What Vincent?" she called loudly. "You cut out there for a second!"

He paused again, tersely. "Yuffie, are you coming back?"

"Vincent! I think my phone is being screwy! I can't –"

She slammed it shut, shoving it into her pocket and breathing in for a panicky moment.

"Oh my gawd, oh my gawd! I just hung up on Vincent Valentine! I just hung up on _Vincent Valentine_," she groaned, dropping into an awkward crouch and covering her face with her hands.

She was receiving more concerned looks, but she ignored them in favor of breathing deeply and trying to calm down.

It wasn't as though she didn't want to help the WRO. She was in charge of important stuff, and espionage was her middle name! She was a good agent. She was an awesome information gatherer. Still, she'd kind of been drafted and it wasn't all materia hunting, butt kicking and sugary cakes, and nobody could blame her for getting bored when the world didn't need saving anymore!

I just want time for Yuffie things, like flying kites and turtle racing and building sand castles and eating ice cream till I puke…

Disliking the heavy thoughts that were bringing her down, she stood, sighed loudly and took off again. She wondered if Edge was conspiring against her. She wondered if Vincent was going to give her one of those disapproving looks next time she saw him.

A flash of ridiculous red caught her eye, and she immediately searched the crowd for its origins. She knew that color; only one man was nuts enough to pull it off, and she had seen enough of it recently to know it anywhere. She spotted it again, a long tail of violent crimson against the gray backdrop that seemed to shroud the city, and grinned.

Reno, the only guy she had ever met who could get away with hair the color of a blood orange and a ponytail. All darker thoughts fleeing, Yuffie realized her morning had just gotten a lot more interesting. She wondered if she should approach her lanky foe, but decided that it was much more fun to watch and see what he did instead. After all, if her surveillance skills were so important, she ought to keep them honed.

Glancing around her, a path became clear, and she darted up the nearest fire escape and clambered her way to a rooftop. The day was cool and mild, and high above the smell of metal and new oil that permeated the city, the air was fresh. Scanning the crowd for Reno's thin form, she spotted him ambling down the road and began her pursuit.

This was an awesome chance to learn more about the sleazy, sexy jerk who smelled like spicy aftershave and whose lips she could still feel brushing against her neck… Shivering, she threw off the remembered eroticism of his almost-maybe-kind-of touch and continued on her way. She was lucky. The buildings in the haphazard city were jammed together tighter than big toes in a small boot, and she could lunge her way from one to another with relative ease. Once in a while she had to climb down and follow him on the ground, but more often than not she could breath in the clear air and feel like she was totally and completely at ease above the world.

Reno was no slouch though. She had tracked enough people to know that he sensed he was being followed within the first hour. He doubled back several times, slipped out the back doors of buildings, and even covered up his distinctive hair at one point.

But this was her field of expertise, unlike a jack-of-all-trades Turk. She stuck to him like glue.

Could anyone blame Yuffie Kisaragi for being the sneakiest sneak that ever sneaked?

"I don't think so!" she whispered to herself, ducking low against the ledge of the rooftop she was currently on.

Luckily there was nobody around to hear her personal conversation, as the roofs were not the hang out of the general populace.

Finally, the Turk relaxed, and though he remained alert, he entered a pretty nice building complex in the cleaner side of town. For a while, Yuffie pouted, wondering if her fun was over, wondering if he'd stopped by a girlfriend's house, wondering if she should knock on the door… But she managed to cross over his building and sneak her way to the other side, and peering furtively at where she estimated his balcony to be, she saw him eventually come out, dressed in his slacks and his standard white shirt, to smoke a cigarette. He was barefoot, she noticed, realizing that she had just found out that Reno of the Turks had his own apartment.

The fact left her feeling invasive and giddy and guilty all at once, not healthy feelings for a spy, and carefully remaining out of sight, she edged her way back to the other side where she'd seen him enter. Thoughtful, she stood and contemplated her next course of action.

"For all his careless banter and playful antagonism, he is not a man to be trifled with," a solemn voice rose from behind her.

Pivoting sharply, Yuffie's eyes widened and a guilty blush flared in her cheeks when she saw Vincent Valentine's tall, scarlet-cloaked form, arms crossed and steady red gaze upon her.

"Vincent! Long time no see!" she chirped nervously.

He was not looking at her anymore though, instead turning his eyes towards the door he'd seen Yuffie studying so intently.

"Is he the reason you have not returned to your duties?" he asked.

"Huh?"

Yuffie wondered how she always managed to sound so wise and eloquent in front of Vincent. It must just be another natural talent of hers.

"That man, Reno. Is he why you have been avoiding Reeve, as well as myself, and prolonging your stay in this city?"

Glancing guiltily at the door behind her, Yuffie shook her head. "Reno's got nothing to do with it."

"Than why are you here?"

"Look," Yuffie snapped defensively, "don't you have babysitting to do?"

Since when did Vincent Valentine bother himself with her? When did he get all sage and helpful and _oh-Yuffie-come-back-to-us-we-need-you-so! _She liked him better when he ignored her and acted like she was more useless than the dirt on his stupid bronze boots!

The only indication he gave that her comment affected him at all was a slight narrowing of his eerie eyes.

"You are the one acting like a child," he said. "Perhaps you need the sitter more."

"… _Perhaps you_…" her mouth fell open and she clenched her fists. "You bully! Some friend you are! I ought to kick your butt into next Tuesday!"

Vincent cracked a small, cynical smile behind his collar, looking down at her meager height. "You are welcome to try," he said, "though I suggest otherwise."

Deflating, Yuffie offered up a tiny smile of her own, a far cry from her usual exuberant grin.

"You know you're terrified of me," she sighed, and hugged her elbows close to her body. "Every night in your sleep you're all _Great Ninja Yuffie, spare me _and nightmare me is all_ I don't think so Vincent, this is what you get for insulting my magnificence! Pow!_"

Vincent merely stared at her as she drew back her fist, a hundred words silent within his significant gaze.

She fidgeted. She knew that he wanted her to give him answers, make promises… But she didn't have answers to give, didn't want to break those promises… Besides, she wasn't the same child who had fought alongside him years ago. She wasn't sure if he'd ever understand that.

"Don't worry, I can take care of myself," she said fondly. The big old mushy gunner! He cared!

Vincent turned away slightly; keeping a wary eye on the doorway he to had seen the Turk enter.

"Do not mistake me," he said. "I came on Reeve's behalf."

"Uh huh," Yuffie rolled her eyes, "that's why you tracked me down through the whole city instead of leaving a message with Tifa or calling my PHS."

"If I recall correctly," Vincent frowned meaningfully, "your PHS is malfunctioning."

Yuffie shrugged, wheeling around and pulling her arms innocently behind her back.

"Yea, I really ought to get that checked out," she murmured, examining Reno's door once again.

As if sensing the direction of her thoughts, the dark gunman's eyes narrowed. "Yuffie," he said, "you are impressionable, and that man is one who seems fascinating and exciting on the outside, but within he is nothing but ugliness and brutality."

He pretty much said the same thing himself, she mused.

"Vincent, you act like I've got a crush on him!" she scoffed, disturbed and amused by his candor on such a strange subject, as well as his description of the redhead. Who knew her love life would be the thing to get him talking? Yuffie thought of the feel of Reno's lips against her skin, and the way the low, intimate pitch of his voice had made her light headed and weak-kneed. Perhaps Vincent's insinuation wasn't too far off.

The thought was sobering. The idea was tantalizing.

"It is often wise to heed the good advice of others. You may find yourself grateful in the end," Vincent murmured, and in a swirl of scarlet cloaks and black hair, had leapt away.

"Shows what you know!" she hollered after him, because she could never bear to let him have the last word.

With a final, reluctant glance at the apartment door, the ninja darted away. Even if her mind had been cluttered with all kinds of serious thoughts, and she had little to show for her battle with boredom, she still felt like she was standing on the cusp of something fascinating. The day may have started off poorly, but in the end it hadn't been a complete bust. At least now she knew whose door to egg if the situation called for it.

* * *

Feedback is always welcome


	4. Chapter 3

Embitterment 

By: Glass Mermaid

Disclaimer: I own nothing that you recognize.

AN: RenoxYuffie for the win!

Also, this story is completed already. I will be posting chapters weekly, so that I can double check them all and make sure everything is correct. On with the show!

* * *

Chapter Three

* * *

Their paths didn't cross for two weeks, and when they did, it wasn't quite the way either had expected. 

Reno had been home for little over an hour, and had lit a smoke and been contemplating whether or not he wanted to go out and get thoroughly intoxicated or just crash in his bed and call it a night, when a rapid knock sounded on his door. Swearing, he pulled out his EMR and moved to the entryway, carefully checking the specially manufactured monitor Reeve had installed that allowed him to see outside. 

A girl was leaning against his door, and what he could see of her usually animated face was pale and drawn. Rolling his eyes, he threw open the elaborate set of locks, disarmed the alarm, shut off the sensor grid and finally, undid the deadbolt. Tossing open the door, he leaned indolently against the door frame, blatantly ignoring the abundance of blood that was currently painting her skin and pouring slowly from her leg.

"How the hell did you find my place?" Reno asked through narrowed blue eyes, carelessly stubbing the cigarette he'd been enjoying out against his door. 

Yuffie wobbled slightly as she pushed inside, dripping bright crimson with each graceless step. His mouth tightened with annoyance as her boots stamped scarlet footprints behind her. 

"Ninja, assassin, etcetera etcetera," she waved off, and stumbled slightly, catching herself on the wall with a small grunt of annoyance. 

She refused to tell him that she'd tailed him for the better part of three hours for a bit of fun after spotting his hair in a crowd. She realized that it wouldn't sound so good when spoken out loud. 

"You're getting blood on my floor," he said offhand as he locked his door and checked his security systems for any tampering she might have done while outside. Call him paranoid but it would help him sleep at night.

"My bad, Turkey," she rolled her eyes and concentrated on ignoring her dizziness, "now get your butt over here and help."

The whine in her girlish voice aggravated him, but he decided to look at it in a positive light; if she could bitch, she wasn't going to bleed to death on his floor quite yet. He ambled over to where she was standing, noticing she had stopped in the very middle of his messy living room and even as he watched, her blood was seeping darkly into his carpet and spreading like ink. What a pain in the ass. 

The source of the blood was a deep, furious gash separating the skin and muscle of her left leg. It destroyed the generous length of her thigh and calf, and the white canvas of her boot was torn irreparably. Red was everywhere around him as he knelt to take a closer look at the wound; in his hair when she braced herself against him and winced in pain, in his clothing which seemed to welcome the familiar hue, on his skin until he could smell nothing but copper.

She was giggling, woozy and delirious from the blood loss, and she tugged lightly on his ponytail until he lifted his apathetic eyes up from her injury and met her gaze. She tottered and wiggled her fingers at him in her idea of a late greeting. She tried to steady herself, but when she settled some of her weight back on her injured leg pain blossomed and the room dimmed for a long, hazardous moment. She dug her fingers into his shoulders. 

Making her way to Reno's apartment, every step had been like fire flaring up her body, and somebody was flinging on the accelerant without restraint. The one measly potion she had used had only dulled the pain, and by the time she got to the redhead's door she'd nearly blacked out because of it. The numbness that was currently melting its way up her leg was a bad sign. Where was Cure-Cura-Curaga when you needed it? Oh, that's right – Cloud.

Her blood was coating his hands, tacky on his wrists, slick on his palms, sinking deep into the lines of his skin and pooling along his lifeline like a bad joke. When her long legs finally gave, he caught her, sliding her down his body onto the floor. His fingers stained her skin further with sticky scarlet tattoos. 

"Why are you here, kid?" he sighed.

Her voice was tired but sickeningly cheerful. "… Couldn't go anywhere else." 

"What about your friends," he frowned. "The luscious Lockhart or Strife or even Valentine?"

"Too far on foot, Turkey, and so much blood might end up scarring the ankle biters for life… not cool. No answer on PHS." She opened her eyes and smiled brightly at him. "You were the next best thing to bleeding to death on the street."

Rolling his eyes, he flicked open a switchblade she hadn't even seen him withdraw and sliced open her boot with disturbing professionalism. 

"How'd you know I was here tonight?" he asked suspiciously as he worked.

"Didn't," she replied, wincing. "I would have broken in, looked for first aid stuff, maybe. This wasn't exactly my most brilliantly thought out plan."

Tossing the boot aside, he whistled low when he saw the full extent of the slash. It was a wreck of sliced muscle and sinew. He was admittedly impressed that she had managed to stand at all, let alone come to his place. Although, considering what she'd probably suffered through when taking on Sephiroth, for all he knew this was child's play. 

"Aren't you a materia whore, princess? How come you don't have any white magic? And why in hell wouldn't you carry some fucking potions?"

As he spoke he uncapped a potion of his own that he'd taken from his coat and doused her leg. The blood slowed, some of the redness faded, her pain lessened. 

It wasn't enough. He would have to take her to the office and let Tseng or Elena handle her. 

"Cloud's got mine. He always finds the best parties. And I used all my potions up during my last little skirmish. Forgot to get more," she smiled sheepishly, very pale but breathing better.

Reno sat back, lighting a new cigarette and ignoring the fact that the girl was still loosing blood and the crimson on his hands was staining the wrapper of his smoke as he lit it.

"Who the hell did this shit?" he breathed out with a plume of smoke, and the wash of relaxation he felt when the nicotine hit made him realize he was disturbed seeing her bleeding on his floor. 

"An assassin or fifty billion. I get those a lot," she sighed, recalling the four men that had attacked her. They were Wutaian; she could easily tell by their fighting techniques. Admitting that would mean admitting that she had deeper problems than a measly fight though, and she really didn't want to bother right now when her head was spinning like a pinwheel.

Reno nodded, commiserating, because assholes were always out for his head as well.

"One got me with his freaking katana, but I tossed my shuriken into his head so he totally must have been sorry for the entire five seconds before he died."

She clumsily stuck out her tongue, a child's voice carelessly tossing out words of murder, and because he knew the subject as well as he knew his bar tab, the bored Reno let his eyes flicker over her body, blood and all. He had let his libido get an eyeful during a lot worse, and he admitted that he'd thought about her once or twice since getting his glasses back in Seventh Heaven. He sat back, studying her. 

He had seen her in action both in person and on the news after Kadaj's attempt for a lunatic reunion. He'd even fought her a bit a few years back when she was saving the world, and if they had to go hand-to-hand in combat she would kick his ass. Put a gun and his EMR in his hands and it might end differently… or it might not. It thoroughly irritated him to know that the tiny little thing was a fully trained ninja capable of a shit load of damage. That she'd taken on Bahamut and won with her cronies and he'd gotten his ass pretty much handed to him by Yazoo didn't exactly stroke his ego. 

"I'm taking you to Tseng," he murmured around his cigarette, eyes narrowed. 

Weakly, she propped herself up on her elbows. "Uh, yea, how about no? I _so_ don't need a Wutaian seeing me like this. It's bad for my ultra classy royal image."

"And dressing like a tease, talking like a ditz and bleeding out on my floor isn't?" he snorted. 

"Reno," she whined, head falling back, and his eyes idly followed the white column of her throat. 

With a curse, he stood and ambled his way to his bedroom, yanking the cabinet door in his bedside table open and revealing a small safe. Punching in his access code, he dragged out a hi-potion and slammed it shut before sauntering back to the living room. 

"You owe me real fucking good now, brat," he muttered as he slid smoothly to his knees beside her. 

Catching sight of the bottle, Yuffie's exhausted eyes glittered with interest. 

"You were holding out on the good stuff!" she wailed. 

"Emergency shit. I get shot at a lot in my line of work. Sometimes they don't miss and the hospital in the nicer part of Edge asks too many questions while the one in the slums asks too damn few."

He dribbled half the potion over the still gaping slash and then passed the bottle to her, watching as she poured the rest into her mouth and swallowed. Both stared, fascinated, as the green magic flowed through her body. In moments the wound was sealed shut and her color returned. Nothing was left but a tender red line. 

She exhaled and shakily got to her feet, looking down at him as he looked back up at her for a long, uncertain moment. Yuffie blinked and Reno looked away. He realized she had yet to thank him, but he wasn't at all surprised.

"Where's your shower, Red?" 

He didn't even blink. "Down the hall. Left."

Yuffie teetered slightly, weak and wearing only one boot, but he made no move to help her, still kneeling in a pool of her blood. So much of it had leaked into his carpet he knew he'd probably never get it clean.

His bathroom door shut, and after a moment the water started to pour. He knew she shouldn't be alone after losing so much blood, potions or no, so he crushed his cigarette out on the floor and barged into his bathroom. He was still covered in her blood as well. 

"Don't use all my hot water, kid," he smirked as he sat on the toilet seat and tried very hard to peer through the opaque shower curtain. To his amusement she was singing very poorly and very loudly, and apparently didn't care that he was there at all. He nudged the scattered bits of her clothing with his shoe, grinning when he saw a scrap of stretchy green fabric that had to be panties. 

"Um, desperate for thrills?" she asked with a snort. 

She was peeking her head around the curtain, black hair dripping around her face, dark eyes large against her pale skin. She stuck out her tongue when he lifted up her decidedly mismatching orange bra.

"Optimistic, brat?" he snickered, wondering why she bothered with one at all considering he'd seen prepubescent boys with larger breasts. 

"Drop dead," she said cheerfully, "I'd help you with that, but I figure I kind of owe you for playing doctor. Besides, this shower is such total awesomeness, and killing you would mean getting out of it."

"Oh yea?" he feigned interest as he caught sight of a bit of slim thigh where the curtain had fallen away from her body. He wondered how loud she'd holler if he tried to get in with her.

"Yea! This thing is huge! Like, I bet you could fit all four of you Turkey's in here!"

His interest dimmed as she darted back behind the curtain and he made a face. "I doubt I'll be testing that theory anytime soon."

"Too bad. Your shampoo smells like sex." 

Reno was suddenly wondering why he'd wasted that damn hi-potion at all, because at least when she was decorated with open wounds, her yappy little mouth was mostly shut. What kind of nonsense was she spouting, anyway?

"My shampoo doesn't smell like cum and sweat, brat." 

She mewled in disgust. "Oh barf! I meant that it smells all sexy and pretty and suave! Forgive a girl a compliment."

He could see her cheerfully scrubbing away at her slim body and he hooked a sly finger around the curtain, pulled – 

And was promptly slapped away. And again. And again.

"Um, grossness? Quit being a perv, Turk!" 

Sitting back, Reno felt like another smoke. 

"Can't blame a guy for trying," he muttered. 

The water shut off and a slim white arm slipped out and waited expectantly. Crossing his arms, Reno looked from the towel on the rack and back to the arm. He leaned back and waited. 

"Oh come on! Give it to me, Reno!" 

"I thought you'd never ask," he smirked, and her little face poked out with a mutinous frown marring the pixie features. 

"Lame, and so not interested," she huffed, but he saw her eyes run over his hair and his lips and his jaw, and the light blush that flew into her cheeks was all the answer he needed. 

Crossing an arm over her chest, Yuffie leaned farther out and snatched the towel before retreating. He never was one for manners, and he eyed her openly when she stepped out. 

"You've got legs up to your fucking neck," he groaned, his blue towel unable to hide the sheer length of them. 

Without her boots, the naked expanse of skin looked unbelievably bare. They both seemed to realize it, and though Reno was fascinated, Yuffie was disconcerted by the much more experienced man. 

"Get out so I can get dressed," she ordered. 

"Have it your way, Legs," he shrugged, "but are you sure you want to put those back on?"

He nudged the bloodstained shorts and the tropical printed shirt as he sauntered to the door. 

"Wait here." 

She eyed him suspiciously but did as he asked, and when he returned and handed her a bundle of clothes, she was not at all reassured. Lowering her eyes, she took in the wrinkled white shirt and the tiny black skirt and her mouth fell open. 

"I am so not wearing the clothes of one of your many, many tramps!" she yelped. 

The redhead shrugged and plucked the skirt from the pile. "Than don't."

She found the sound of the door slamming in his face very satisfying.

* * *

When she flounced out into his living room in nothing but his crinkled white shirt with her remaining boot in hand, he didn't know whether he should be intrigued by her brazenness or insulted that she didn't consider him male enough to care. He settled on eyeing the acres of creamy leg left open to him with undisguised intent. 

She was oblivious though, her focus on the bundle of canvas and string she picked up off the floor and held against the one in her hand. 

"If that jerk wasn't already dead, I'd kill him," she seethed. 

Dropping the remains of her boot on the floor, she followed gracelessly, plunking herself down cross-legged and nearly causing Reno to choke on his cigarette as her green panties unexpectedly came into view. 

"Shit!" he coughed.

She eyed him momentarily before rolling her eyes and dragging her knees underneath her. 

"Better?" she queried scornfully. 

"Fuck no," he snorted.

Yuffie spoke absently as she pinched a tattered lace with her thumb and forefinger. "I didn't mean to shock your delicate sensibilities with my panties of emerald awesomeness."

"By all means, shock again," he encouraged. 

A touch of pink glowed momentarily in her cheeks before her attention settled again on her ruined footwear. Her mouth plumped into a pout that he admired with an expert eye.

"Can I borrow your knife?" she asked with a sad sigh. 

He handed it to her dubiously, watching with fascination as she sliced away at the remaining parts until she was left with, in the barest sense, a mutilated shoe.

"These were like, the greatest boots the world has ever seen," she moaned, slipping the makeshift sneaker onto her foot and gazing at it mournfully. "Bards will sing songs, poets will fill pages, and artists will be inspired… All because these boots were so amazingly great." 

"Buy a new fucking pair," he said as he exhaled nicotine and a hundred other poisons into the air. She proceeded to put on the undamaged boot, her nimble fingers tightening the laces up her calf expertly.

"Um, duh? They were one of a kind. I got them half price in this little shop in Wutai last year because nobody wanted to do up those laces all the time. Intense concentration is another of my mad ninja skills and any losers that let a pair of laces beat them don't deserve to have such astoundingly gorgeous footwear to start with!"

Reno stared at her, eyebrow cocked. "Aren't you a goddamn princess? Order somebody to make you a pair."

Yuffie lifted her eyes to his, mildly taken aback by how light his were. 

_Mako treatments? He has the same green ring inside the blue as Cloud._

"Gawd yes! I totally can!" she grinned suddenly, punching a fist in the air. "Though it's irresponsible to abuse my power like that." 

She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Lucky for me, I'm as irresponsible as they come."

Reno liked her better already.

Standing in her mismatched footwear and the white shirt, Yuffie struck a jaunty pose; cheerfully unaware that Reno was ignoring her antics in favor of imagining just how flexible a ninja would be between the sheets.

"I'm taking a pair of your pants!" she announced, pointing at him expectantly.

"I think I'd rather see you walk home without any," he replied, but he stubbed out the smoke and got to his feet.

He wandered into his bedroom, amused to see that she didn't follow him. For a girl who talked so big, she sure seemed naïve about men. Reluctantly, he retrieved a pair of his clean black slacks and returned to the living room. He tossed them at her and moved back to his chair. Yuffie seemed to think twice about pulling them on in front of him, because she scurried into his bathroom, returning after a moment with the pants on, rolled up to compensate for their height difference. 

"I don't know why you're even bothering with them," Reno snickered, "it isn't like your shorts are much bigger than your underwear anyway."

"Funny, Reno," she said sourly. "Any idiot would know I wear shorts like that so I'm free to move around as much as I need to in a fight. I'm a ninja, remember?"

He rolled his eyes, and as a silence descended between them, Yuffie bit her lip. He really_had_ just been the quickest option for assistance after she'd been attacked; she'd been lucky the other day to find out where he lived. Still, she was as grateful as she got for his unenthusiastic help, and even if he was an arrogant, sloppy, underhanded jerk who was too hot for his own good, she _liked_ him. 

"Look, it's been swell and everything hanging out in your bleak little corner of the world, but," she smiled saucily at him, tossing the words he'd uttered in the church that night back at him with her own spin, "I've got stuff to steal, hearts to break, and better places to be."

"Shut up and get out before I throw you out," he snorted, shaking his head. 

She paused indecisively for a moment, watching him as he watched her back. She looked ridiculous with his baggy clothes hanging off her body, her damp hair tousled and her scuffed boots peeking out beneath his cuffs. Reno glanced away, shaking his head. 

He startled slightly when her legs brushed suddenly against his, glancing back in surprise to find her practically kneeling on his lap. She leaned close, and he could smell his own shampoo mingling with the scent of her clean skin. Her lips touched his cheek, gently, so gently he wasn't sure he'd felt it, before she drew back. His hand crept around her waist and he met her gaze, questioningly. 

Her eyes darkened, she blushed and pulled back.

"Thanks Turkey!" she cried boisterously, grinning, and leaning down a second time she pressed a wet, noisy, exaggerated kiss against his cheek before darting away. 

After a moment his door slammed shut, and he blinked, suddenly alone. 

_When was the last time somebody kissed my cheek?_

"No problem, kid," he whispered bemusedly into the settling silence.

* * *

Reviews are always appreciated. 

* * *


	5. Chapter 4

Embitterment 

By: Glass Mermaid

Disclaimer: I own nothing that you recognize.

Summary: He'd always known that his past would cost him, but he never knew the price. She always knew her future would catch her, but she didn't know how fast. Love isn't always beautiful; that doesn't stop the want.

**AN: Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed. I really appreciate knowing your thoughts.**

Also, this story is completed already. I will be posting chapters weekly, so that I can double check them all and make sure everything is correct. On with the show!

* * *

Chapter Four

* * *

Reno woke up to a bitter chill in the air of his apartment, and he swore and shivered his way into the crumpled blue suit he picked up off the bedroom floor. The fabric smelled like ashes and rain, and he wondered why he found that so unsettling when it had smelled of much worse. The cold cloth was slowly stealing his body heat, warming, and jamming his EMR into the holster at his waist; he stumbled wearily into his kitchen and tried to get his fumbling fingers to start the coffee maker. 

"Heat, heat," he muttered from between clenched teeth. "Stupid goddamn heat." 

His feet were bare and pale, pale, pale against the tiles of his floor as he wound his way to the thermostat and hiked it up as far as it could go. 

A flicker of yellow where there was usually none caught his eye and his mag rod was in his hand, his sleepiness was miraculously gone, and his righteously foul mood had disappeared in place of efficiency before he finished turning his head. 

Pacing forward cautiously, he eyed a scrap of banana bright paper where it was tacked into his wall with a vicious looking throwing star. Taking the edge off of what he might have considered a threat were several rainbow hued ribbons dangling from the weapon, each finished with a ridiculous, happy faced yellow bead. 

Eyes narrowing, he ripped the paper off the wall. 

"Thirty-two seconds," it read in loopy letters, and at the bottom, "Yuffie K." 

"Mother fucker," he grimaced, and dug through messy pockets for his PHS.

"Reeve? Yea, you jerk off! I need a whole new security system for my apartment…This one is garbage… Because I fucking said so! I don't care if you're busy with your stupid group! Don't give me that bullshit, because I protect the life of the guy who foots your goddamn bills… No, I didn't shoot it... No, I didn't fry it… No, I didn't blow it up…" 

He rubbed a hand through his long red hair, feeling it tickle his shoulders and back as he strode to his balcony door and surveyed the locks. His eyes narrowed. 

"She didn't even take the easy way," he muttered, then, "No Reeve, not you…"

A sudden thought had him running into his bedroom and punching the code for his safe in, and he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that his materia was untouched. Still kneeling, he pulled his EMR from its holster with a frown and carefully examined it as well. Nothing missing, nothing changed. 

"Fuck me," he muttered, and ran his hand through his loose hair. He hung up on Reeve without a good bye. 

A week later he woke up, hung-over and cranky, to find a scrap of brilliant blue paper tacked to his wall with another throwing star. He wrapped the dangling rainbow ribbons around his fist and the smiling beads clicked together. 

"One minute four seconds, Yuffie," it read, complete with a little doodle of a face sticking its tongue out at him. 

His phone was out and the number punched while he was still staring sightlessly at the wall.

"Reeve?" he grit out, "I have a pest problem. The ninja brat is dropping by uninvited."

When Reeve's laughter had died down, the redhead spoke through clamped teeth.

"So, are you going to sit there yakking it up all day or are you going to keep that fucking ninja out of my apartment?" he asked sourly. 

"Reno," Reeve chortled, "there isn't a security system made that could keep that girl out of where she wants to go." 

"Fucking make one than," he enunciated slowly, so Reeve would be sure to understand between the laughter, and slammed his phone shut. 

A week went by, then another. He told himself he wasn't holding his breath.

It was eight o'clock in the morning, three weeks later, and he staggered out of bed and into his bathroom, relieved himself, then brushed his teeth until his gums were sore. It was the only way to keep his teeth remotely white considering the occasional cigarette he enjoyed and the coffee he couldn't give up. 

As was his new routine, Reno checked the walls of his living room for rainbow hues and ninja weaponry before letting out a pleased breath and heading into his kitchen. 

Slamming a heavy hand against the coffee pots innocent On button, he leaned wearily against the counter and wondered if he should shower before or after he had some coffee. 

"Nice hair, Turkey," a girlish voice rang out.

His reaction time was a source of pride and confidence for him, and so it was with bitterness that he watched her spring out of reach when he snapped around with a graceful roundhouse kick. She danced just out of range, an eyebrow arched in challenge. 

"Decided to make yourself comfortable, brat?" he murmured, stalking her. 

She shrugged. "As comfy as I could be in a little hovel like this." 

"You've been breaking and entering," he took a halfhearted swipe at her, and she dodged it easily. 

"Yep," she replied cheekily, "much to Reeve's disappointment. I heard you've been throwing hissy fits." 

He shrugged his hair back over his shoulder with one hand, threw a punch with the other, and her eyes followed the movement. He struck out with his foot, catching her behind the leg and sending her tumbling backwards, all grace abandoned. She smacked her hip on the edge of his coffee table and squinted up at him balefully as she rubbed the soreness away. 

"That was so totally unnecessary!" 

He smirked and knelt down beside her, tipping her chin upwards with his EMR. 

"Alright kid, it's early, I'm grouchy, give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you in the next ten seconds." 

She didn't even have the brains to look frightened. Instead, she rolled her huge, dark eyes and grinned at him. 

"Because you think I'm totally amazingly unbelievably adorable and you want nothing more than to squeal and cuddle me till I'm unconscious with lovey dovey smooches?"

He stared at her for a moment, disbelieving, before bringing his face closer to hers, listening to her breath catch faintly. 

"Something like that," he muttered, and kissed her hard and breathless before standing and removing his EMR from her chin.

"Want some coffee?" he asked tiredly.

She tried to hide the fact that her mouth was still trembling and that she desperately wanted to wind her fingers into the long red hair sliding down his pale shoulders and drag his lips back to hers. 

He tossed the mag rod down only to have her snatch it up, right on his heels. 

"Take it easy. Don't fry yourself," he warned. 

It was weighty in her hands, surprising considering her regular weapon was a huge, oversized mass of spikes that she flung around like a toy. She peered at it curiously before poking it against a pillow laying on the floor and flicking it on. 

The eruption of sparks and the subsequent scent of burnt fabric had her squealing in excitement, and wisely, Reno removed his weapon from her fidgety fingers. 

"No more play time, kid," he muttered. 

"I'm twenty. I'm not a kid," she sighed, rolling her eyes. Clearly she was used to the name. 

"I'm thirty. That makes you a kid," he shrugged, grinning. 

Her mouth fell open. "Wow, Turkey! Where'd you find the fountain of youth?"

He cocked a coppery brow at her, leaning against the counter in his rumpled blue suit while he listened absently to the percolating coffee. He knew he looked good for his age. Hell, he didn't look a day over twenty-five. Apparently, killing for a living kept you young. Tseng, Rude and Elena also looked damn young for their ages. 

Yuffie put a hand on her hip, glancing speculatively at Reno and deciding that he looked better than any man had the right to for just having dragged himself out of bed. Wrinkled suit, half lidded eyes, sleepy smile and tousled hair all combined for a rather devastating effect.

"Gawd, the ladies must hate dating you," she snorted. "I could never be with a guy that was prettier than me." 

"Lucky for us, I don't date," Reno said offhandedly, and as the coffee pot began to give its last excited gurgles, he pulled two mugs from the cupboard. 

"Sometimes," he shook his head regretfully, "It's hard being this great." 

"Uh huh," she scoffed, but took a moment to admire the angle of his jaw and the length of his lashes before planting her bum on the counter behind him. 

"So why do you keep hanging around, kid? I'm nice to look at, but we both know I'm no good."

"Oh my Gawd, Turk. Don't flatter yourself _too_ hard. I'm just bored. Edge doesn't exactly have the most incredible social scene."

He was a little insulted, and he glanced at her over his shoulder, seeing her perched lightly on his counter, all long legs and conceited grins. Pouring coffee into the mugs, he dumped a generous helping of sugar into hers without bothering to ask, and then added cream to both, giving them each a cursory stir. He passed her the cup, studying her as she slurped loudly at the beverage and kicked her legs against his cupboards. 

"So, you're using me?" he said skeptically, a tad amused by the novelty. 

"Pardon me if I thought you were a bit more interesting than washing glasses at Seventh Heaven or having tea parties with Marlene."

"Hey, I've heard that little girl throws some seriously wild shindigs," he yawned. 

"Shindigs?" Yuffie chortled, "You so totally _are_ old!"

Taking his coffee, he began to wander through his apartment, haphazardly gathering his things. Yuffie skipped along behind him, peering around his apartment with curious eyes. Reno looked at her questioningly. 

"I'm just curious," she explained. 

"Don't steal anything," he responded curtly.

"Like what?" Yuffie jeered, "The empty beer bottles or that sexy little pink bra hanging on the lamp in your living room?"

Reno shrugged, unrepentant.

"You'd look so totally cute in that, by the way," she continued, swearing to herself that it didn't matter at all. "I bet you and Rude have sexy underwear modeling competitions, and Elena and Tseng are the judges. The prize is three sloppy blonde kisses from Rufus himself."

Reno shoved his EMR into his holster and resisted the urge to backhand the girl. It would take more energy than he was currently willing to exert anyway. 

"Were you sent here to test my sanity?" he asked, "because I can tell you, I have very little left and what I do have, you're pretty damn close to destroying." 

Yuffie headed back into his living room and he found himself following. He treated himself to leering at her bum, figuring he'd earned as much. 

"I can tell you're not a morning person," she sighed, opening his balcony door. 

"Gee, what tipped you off?" he spat. 

He watched, fascinated, as she leapt onto his railing and balanced confidently. Was it strange that this was a perfect opportunity to push her off and he wasn't even tempted to do it? He shambled forward, tired and unenthused, and leaned his arms against the railing. 

"Thanks for the coffee, Turk. It sucked," she grinned down at him.

"Thanks for ruining my morning, kid. I'll look forward to kicking your ass next time you try it," he replied easily, blatantly staring at her thighs.

She bent down quick and noisily kissed his cheek before going, pretending that her heart wasn't pounding, and as she decided to defy gravity once more, twisting and flipping through the air with a skill and style only the Wutaian had mastered, the morning sun winked off of the silver hoop that used to reside in his left ear, and was now pinched between her dishonest fingers.

* * *

Reno didn't see her for a week; too caught up with the new direction their latest intelligence has sent them. Rufus was sending the Turks to a region near Cosmo Canyon to investigate a potential base of operations for the Garrison group. It was rumored that one of the leaders had been spotted in some of the regional cliff side. Whether he was holed up in a cave or what, they didn't know, but their job was to track down the hideout and find out. 

The pre-mission preparations were well underway, Tseng carefully stocking them with the necessary supplies while Elena did the preflight helicopter inspection. Rufus paced to and fro before Reno and Rude, an intense debate in progress with Reeve that neither of the Turks were paying much attention to. 

"… Keep them on standby," he was saying. "We'll call Valentine and Highwind in if our intel proves correct."

_So, the brat really_ has_ cut ties with the WRO._

Reno wondered, as he strapped on additional holsters and stocked himself with ammunition in the sublevel of the Healin Lodge, if he should tell the ninja brat he was leaving today. He halted, grimacing, because he must be getting soft and it was none of her goddamn business and he didn't give a fuck whether she got worried or not. 

A scowl soured his features, his confused thoughts written plainly on his face, and Rude stopped fine-tuning the sights of a sniper rifle. 

"Reno," he said, "problem?"

Reno looked up from the testing of his EMR and gave his partner a blank stare.

"Nope," he said blankly. 

Rude continued to watch him, obviously not fooled. Reno cursed and tossed aside his weapon. He ran a hand through his hair, listening to the low murmur of Rufus's impatient voice. Finally he lifted his eyes to his friend and gestured to their employer.

"Cover me, Rude. I'll be back in an hour," he smirked. 

"Be back fast," he replied. 

Reno rolled his eyes, feigning indifference when they both knew that if there was one thing he was serious about, it was being a Turk. 

"I'll be back on time. Who else is going to watch your back?"

Rude shrugged, returning his attention to the gun in his hand. "Like you can see that high," he muttered. 

Shaking his head with mock hurt, Reno avoided Rufus' suspicious gaze, shoved his way out the door, and was gone.

* * *

Tifa had left Yuffie in charge of Seventh Heaven (under Marlene's watchful eye) for an hour or two while she went out with Denzel to pick up some inventory, and she had been making a dismal attempt at the child's hair, the girl sitting on her knees on the floor while the ninja struggled with the pale brown tresses. 

Yuffie couldn't say she hadn't been expecting it when the doorway chimed and Reno strode into Seventh Heaven, windblown, sloppy, and with his shades pulled down against the early sunshine, but she could say she hadn't expected her own reaction to seeing him after a week.

She was horrified when her stomach tightened with excitement and a blush flared in her cheeks. Marlene squeaked in pain, glancing at the young woman behind her who had pulled so unnecessarily hard at her scalp. She turned back to the thin red haired man who had just pushed inside and seemed to be waiting for something, vaguely recalling him from a few years ago but sensing no threat. 

"Yuffie," she whispered, "who is that guy?"

Yuffie fumbled with the hairbrush and the pink ribbon the girl still insisted on wearing, setting them on the table beside her. 

"Nobody interesting," she said sweetly and loudly. "Did I ever tell you that you look awesome with your hair down?" 

At Marlene's pointed look, Yuffie stuck out her tongue. "Okay, okay, so I don't know how to do hair! Why do you think I keep mine so short?" 

The small girl shook her head, smiling ruefully at Yuffie's immature attitude, before getting to her feet and heading upstairs with a final curious look at the newcomer who was making Yuffie turn red. 

Reno, who had been listening idly to their conversation, shoved his hands into the pockets of his blazer and ambled over. 

"I figured you kept it short because of some bizarre, ancient Wutaian custom," he commented carelessly. 

Yuffie hopped out of her seat, trying to quell the butterflies in her stomach and appear relaxed even though she felt ready to jump out of her skin with. 

"Nope," she shrugged. "If I went by ancient Wutaian customs I'd have more complicated hair than Cloud, and have to wear all these flowing, crazy robes with flowers and birds and stuff on them."

"That'd be a shame," he said, leering suggestively at her over his sunglasses. 

Yuffie set her hands on her hips and cast a lascivious look at her reflection in the windows.

"Yea, it really would," she sighed happily before turning back to him, curiosity and suspicion in her gaze. "Now, tell me what you're doing here. It isn't happy hour."

Reno sobered, face turning serious as he wandered closer. He paused for a moment, the mouth that usually got too far ahead of him apparently falling behind. Lips thinning with irritation, he stared at her and wondered again why the hell he was there at all. 

"Reno?" she asked when she saw his eyes behind the sunglasses. They were cool, solemn, and surprisingly unsure. 

"I'm going away for awhile, kid," he murmured finally, watching her face for something he wasn't sure about. 

Yuffie tilted her head, trying to figure out what he meant. "Like, skipping town or something?"

The smile surfaced again momentarily and as he shook his head, the sun caught the strands of his hair and made them glitter a blinding copper. 

"Nah, not yet anyway. Got Turk stuff to do. I'll be gone for at least a week."

"You don't know when you're coming back?" she said, throat dry.

The thought made her stomach clench unpleasantly, as if a hand had just reached within and fisted around her insides. 

"No," he said, watching her, "I don't." 

Yuffie attempted to be flippant, shrugging and turning away from his serious eyes. She didn't like the things he wasn't saying. 

"Why are you telling_ me_? Afraid I'm going to break in to your place when you're gone and take your materia?" she sulked. 

Smirking, Reno reached out and fingered a strand of her short black hair. Yuffie turned slightly, glancing over her shoulder up at him but staying quiet. 

"Something like that," he muttered, letting his fingers fall. 

She turned to face him fully.

"Reno, if you don't come back in one piece, I'll hunt down your ghost and eat it," she said, voice small. 

He shrugged, because he assumed he was coming back alive, but it was always a gamble in his trade.

"I'm Reno of the Turks," he scoffed, "and I'm damn good at my job."

Dropping his shades back over his eyes, he turned and sauntered out of the bar, leaving the bewildered, panicky girl behind him. He was just reflecting on how that had gone better then expected and not at all like he'd hoped when he heard her angrily hollering his name. 

He turned around, eyebrow raised in question, and she caught up to him, lunged forward and –

Decked him. Hard. He rubbed his cheek, frowning.

"Don't be so stupid and dumb and _oh-this-is-dangerous-but-I'm-not-going-to-let-you-know-directly-so-I'll-be-all-cryptic-and-sexy-and-mysterious_ with me, Turkey!" she shouted. 

He was getting ready to yell right back when she lunged up into his arms, wrapping her strong legs around his waist and her arms around his shoulders. Startled, he automatically gripped her thighs, amazed at how light she was. He glared at her, debating on whether to kiss her senseless or drop her flat on her rear-end.

"If that bruises I'm going to kick your skinny ass, kid," he muttered, and then she was kissing him, hard and reckless and messy right in the middle of the sidewalk and the morning sun.

There was too much teeth and his lips were too dry and her legs were getting sore and she wouldn't change a thing and he'd never had better. When they broke apart, Yuffie slid down his body and shook her finger in his face. He couldn't pretend he wasn't pleased to have made her lips bee-stung red and her voice shaky. 

"I meant what I said about eating your ghost," she said breathlessly. 

"I meant what I said about kicking your ass," he snorted. 

She gave him one last, significant look that told him a hundred wordless things before dashing back towards Seventh Heaven, and as he watched her go, all thrashing, scrawny limbs and blue bandanas, he realized his heart was pounding hard and fast in his chest.

* * *

Reviews are always, always appreciated. 


	6. Chapter 5

Embitterment

By: Glass Mermaid

Disclaimer: I own nothing that you recognize.

AN: I imagine Reno to be a rather twisted individual. You can't walk away sane from his line of work unless you are.

Also, this story is completed already. I will be posting chapters weekly, so that I can double check them all and make sure everything is correct. On with the show!

* * *

Chapter Five

* * *

The intelligence reports they'd received proved to be correct. The Garrison group's base had been located near Cosmo Canyon, hidden deep within cliff ranges well separated from those taken on pilgrimage. It was a relatively large base, with only one clear entryway and one clear exit through the maze of rock. The majority of their soldiers kept living quarters in the deep caves, which protected them from air strikes. The cliffs themselves afforded them a clear view of any assault forces that could come for them by ground. From what could be seen, only about two hundred soldiers were spotted in Garrison, but that was still two hundred too many. The damage they could do to the civilian populace was untold.

For three days, Tseng remained close to the base watching the operations, looking for signs of their leader and placing strategic explosives to detonate around the cliffs of the compound. When he finally did report to them that Heidegger was spotted, Rufus was not surprised.

During that time, the other Turks remained in a remote Gongaga area briefing the WRO forces that Cid Highwind had transported on his ships.

Two days later the explosives were detonated by Tseng in the safety of Ancient Forest, and the attack on the Garrison group was nearly over before it had began when the majority of the soldiers were killed in the cave ins.

The WRO troops were sent in, channeling through both of the larger entries to the base in order to engage any remaining insurgents.

The Garrison group had had no choice but to scatter in the end. Most of the caves had collapsed when Tseng's explosives detonated and there were not enough of them to put up a resistance. All in all, it was a pitifully sad battle lasting two more days, and now Reno and Elena were carefully scouring one of the remaining caves for remaining rebels, while Tseng and Rude took on another, and Vincent Valentine explored the last.

For fear of remaining cave ins they couldn't use any firearms, which didn't bother Reno much but had left Elena edgy. She was glaring at him mutinously, covered in red rock dust and muttering something about how the Turks weren't meant to be on the battlefield. Reno, tapping his EMR over his shoulder, could only shrug as he kept a careful eye out for stragglers.

They reached the end of the cave without incident, when Reno caught sight of a wounded man trying to hide himself behind several crates containing who knows what. Reno signaled for Elena to shut her mouth. Immediately she complied.

"Sorry buddy, you suck at hide-and-seek," he drawled, and the man tried to stand up, yelling at the pair about evil and corporations and the corruptness of the wealthy.

There was a large gash in his calf bleeding profusely, and even though he was weak and near exhaustion, he hobbled towards them, still screaming.

"You want him?" Reno asked the blonde disinterestedly. She shrugged, looking disgustedly at the grungy terrorist.

Turning back, Reno flicked on his weapon and waited until the man was close enough to him before ducking, sweeping a leg out and knocking him to the ground. The man yelped in agony as Reno's leg hit his injury, rolling on the ground, clutching at the wound and weeping.

Standing smoothly, the redhead looked down at the man without expression.

"You chose the wrong side, asshole," he said, and shoved his EMR into his side.

The scent of cooked meat was greasy and grim in the closed air of the cave, and Elena looked away from the sight of the corpse. Reno turned as well, gesturing for her to follow him, when a keening sob echoed around them and another man flew out of the shadows, a knife in hand.

"You killed him! You killed him!" he shrieked, swinging wildly.

Reno danced backwards, shrugging. "Yea, I did."

The man wailed with fury and rage, throwing himself heavily at the Turk. "You sick fuck! You're with them! You're with Shinra!"

"No shit," Reno murmured, dodging a hasty swipe of the knife. The problem with idiots like this was that they were ready and willing to die. That made them unpredictable and dangerous.

"Heidegger was right!" the man howled. "He said you had no mercy! He said we had no choice because it would be Shinra Electric all over again! We can't let him rebuild! We had no choice!"

Reno kept his eyes on the man, knowing that Elena would warn him if any other insurgents came out of the woodwork. The crazed, desperate light in the man's gaze made him damn glad that he didn't have a grenade or other explosive readily apparent. He ducked under the man's arm, spinning on his heel and yanking hard on the offending limb. A loud crack sounded as the arm broke, the man screamed, and he dropped the knife.

Without another word Reno kicked his knee out from under him, the man dropped, and locking his arms around the rebels neck he twisted brutally. Another loud snap, and the man fell to the floor, dead.

"Any more?" he asked the impassive Elena. She shook her head. The radio at her hip beeped and she nodded towards the way they'd come.

"That's the signal. The rest have cleared their caves. Let's go."

Reno nodded, glancing back at the two dead men with a scoff before ambling after the blonde once again.

"What a waste," he snorted. "These morons didn't even know what they were fighting against. Rufus isn't trying to take over the fucking world."

"They're dead now, Reno," she sighed. "We won, if you call this winning."

He thought about the terrible things he'd done in the name of Shinra. He thought about how much damage one man, a mission and a bomb could do. He thought about how Edge was beginning to thrive, and how the sunlight warmed his balcony in the morning. He thought about Rude, Tseng, Elena and Rufus.

He thought about Yuffie.

"You know what, Elena?" he murmured as he moved ahead of her. "I do."

* * *

Yuffie spent a day wandering through the rooms of his apartment, doing what she insisted on calling investigating, though others would have called it snooping.

She couldn't help it. She _missed_ the cocky jerk.

First, she went through his kitchen, poking through the shelves and cupboards because she was curious as to what somebody as skinny and lazy as he was ate on a normal day. She found a few cans of soup, a couple cans of fish, some packages of instant ramen and a huge amount of coffee grounds. In his fridge, he had a box of baking soda, a bottle of lemon concentrate, a shriveled lime and condiments. She found an extra gun tucked behind a box of coffee filters above his sink, but wisely left it where it was. There was a generous assortment of alcohol stored in one of the cupboards, and he had more shot glasses than plates. She counted.

Bored of the kitchen, she wandered aimlessly around his sparse living room furniture, picking up the bare assortment of personal items strewn around. There were no framed pictures, no magazines, no paintings, no photographs of boring landscapes and oceans. There was nothing that gave her any hint about who he was, save for the half empty pack of cigarettes on the coffee table and the florescent orange lighter beside them.

The more she saw, the less she realized she knew, and the more frustrated she became.

She hesitated for about half a second before opening his bedroom door, and if she'd hoped to find some amazing secrets inside, some telling journal, or even some kinky porn, she was grossly mistaken. Aside from dirty laundry, a large, mussed bed, and a disturbing number of weapons, there was nothing more here than anywhere.

Sulking, Yuffie sat on the edge of his bedspread, refusing to bother herself by thinking of the women he'd slept with, the things he might have told them, the way he must have acted around them. Instead, the grabbed his pillow, bringing it to her lap and breathing in the scent of sweat and cologne that came from it. There was another gun beneath his pillow. She decided to ignore it.

How could a man who seemed so laid back and careless live in such a state of paranoid readiness?

She wanted to ask him that. She wanted to yank on his hair. She wanted to kiss him again. She thought of his smug grins, his indolent shrugs and his confident swagger, and sighed and frowned and debated within herself… This was becoming way more complicated than her crush on Cloud had been.

"Come back soon, Reno," she whispered aloud, and hugged the pillow close.

* * *

The Turks sat around the briefing table the following morning, looking intently at their boss, who was pacing before them, steps quick and clumsy with irritation. His white coat swept around him as he pivoted with each turn, making him all the more dramatic and giving Reno reason to snicker.

He stifled it quickly, however, when the blonde's icy glare settled on him for a moment.

"I want them found, please," Rufus sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose, and resumed pacing, "and with all due haste if you don't mind. We don't want another mess on our hands like this one."

In the end, there were two leaders who had not been in the canyons when the assault was carried out. Unfortunately, that meant they would know doubt go deep underground very, very soon.

"Do they have resources?" Elena asked. She sat beside Rude, who was quietly drinking a large mug of coffee.

"Bridge has several connections in Mideel and Edge that will keep him stocked. He is most likely there as we speak," Tseng said.

Rufus nodded. "They kept their assets on hand, and much of what they had stocked was recovered during yesterday's events. However, we must assume that both Moat and Bridge will have access to more funds and supplies, and will begin recruiting forces immediately."

"What the fuck," Reno groaned, tipping his head back. "Heidegger's dead, so why can't they just give up?"

"Because," Tseng said, "they have martyrdom on their side now."

"Bridge is most likely in Mideel or Edge," Rufus muttered. "We can go on that for now. You will be alerted as soon as we have more."

The Turks stood, filing out and leaving a tired, frustrated Rufus Shinra behind them.

* * *

His PHS rang twice, he flipped it open with a practiced flick of his wrist, and Rude's deep baritone greeted his ears. A man of few words, his partner let him know what he'd seen as he walked past the other man's building on his way to rendezvous with Tseng and had then hung up. There was an intruder in Reno's apartment, one with which he was very familiar.

As he shut his phone, a smirk crept over his face.

_Miss me, kid?_

* * *

As silently as he could, Reno punched in the security codes and unlocked his front door. He had little to no chance of sneaking up on a ninja, but there was no shame in trying. Keeping himself alert and guarded, he pushed the door shut with his foot and reached out behind him, blindly bolting and barring it before moving forward.

The girl wasn't exactly hiding her presence from him. Subtle traces of her invasion were everywhere, from the living room light to the opened kitchen cupboards. Less subtle were the thick, muddy footprints that led from his balcony and ended up – oh so courteously – at his front door. Glancing down in pained disbelief, Reno took in the pair of filthy black and gray striped boots that had been carelessly discarded in his entryway.

He expected her to be lounging on his couch or stuffing herself with whatever food she could find in his poorly stocked kitchen, but could find no sign of her. He headed down the hall towards his bedroom, thoughts taking a decidedly lascivious turn, only to hear some splashing and the start of a horrifically off key rendition of some vaguely recalled pop song. Grimacing, he halted in front of his bathroom, only to become intrigued by the steam wafting through the cracks.

With a smirk, he pushed open the door, leaning lazily against the frame and preparing himself for any number of reactions from the bubble covered ninja.

Her surprised, welcoming smile wasn't one of them.

"Hey, Turkey," she said, grinning.

"Hey, kid," he replied, leering.

Yuffie looked completely at ease in his large bathtub, covered from shoulder to feet in foamy bubbles. Judging from the pile of mud stained purple and orange clothing dumped on his floor, she was decidedly nude, a fact most definitely not lost on him as he tried to get a better look through the bubbles. Her hair was a wet, inky black, clinging to her neck and cheeks. The bandana was folded neatly on his bathroom counter, and its absence seemed unintentionally intimate in their current setting.

"You're letting the cold air in, close the door," she ordered.

He did just that, swaggering over to the side of the tub and taking a seat.

"You're taking an awful risk, kid. If I'd been bringing a lady home I would have –"

Reno stopped, mouth dropping slightly, as the barely concerned ninja lifted something from the bath water and examined it closely. She gave it another careful swipe with a cloth before reverently setting it down beside the tub on a folded towel.

"You're washing your fucking materia in my bathtub?" he asked incredulously.

Yuffie looked at him like he was stupid before searching around her in the water and lifting up several of the glowing orbs.

"Um, yes? What else did you think I was doing?"

"I don't know," he snapped, "maybe washing all that goddamn dirt off yourself?"

She shrugged. "Oh, that. I had a shower first. I told you that I love your shampoo, right?"

Shaking his head, Reno shrugged off his coat and tossed it aside.

"You might have mentioned it."

Setting piece by piece of materia down on the towel, she continued to examine each one with the thoroughness of an expert.

"I've only ever got a few of my good ones on me," she explained woefully. "Cloud has most of it."

She snickered, glancing sneakily at the redhead who was now carefully rolling up his sleeves.

"I borrowed Fenrir today. He hardly appreciates that beauty enough. I mean, he drives like an old lady!"

Reno, who had seen Cloud on his bike, disagreed, and imagining the .

"So I took it for a bit of real playtime outside of town. I totally didn't expect the rain but it was awesome! You would have loved it! The mud was spraying, the rain was blinding, and I was dodging trees and bushes and squirrels and stuff!"

She broke off, giggling, and then resumed her tale.

"Well, me and the bike got totally caked in mud, so I dropped it off at Seventh Heaven and came here to wash my materia off."

"You mean," Reno said as he took a seat on the edge of the bath, "you came to hide from Strife."

She snickered, shrugging. "Maybe."

In the silence that settled over them, Yuffie became very, very aware that she was naked and alone with a man who excited her more than anyone had the right to. Her smile felt rather wobbly and her mouth went dry. The corner of his mouth was snaking upward as he reached down and swirled the water with his index finger. Yuffie caught her breath as that same finger moved, the only sound that of the water dripping from it, and trailed agonizingly slow over her collarbone.

She swallowed, her head lolling back against the wall.

"You sure seem to be hanging around my place an awful lot," he murmured, absorbed in the play of silken skin and water as he traced his way up the column of her neck. The path his hand was taking transfixed him.

"Don't read too much into it," she breathed, eyes closing. "I just like the neighborhood."

He smirked, fingers carefully sliding down the smoothness of her shoulder. He listened to her sigh.

"You mean I don't figure into it at all?" he asked.

"Not at all," she whispered, shifting to invite his hands lower.

He palmed her small breast, flicked a finger over her nipple and watched the flutter of her lashes, the glimpse of white teeth as she bit her lip.

"That's a shame," he said, the warmth of the water closing over his wrist as he teasingly slid his hand over her thigh. "I better get out of here than."

He lifted his eyes back to her own and found her drowsy stare fixed on him. He was caught for a moment by the languid softness in her gaze, and missed the devilish gleam that crossed it.

"Not a chance, Turkey," she smiled, one long leg whipping out and curling around his midsection while she used the other to keep herself from sliding anywhere. With a tug he was sent splashing into the water, mouth falling open and eyes wide with surprise.

Fumbling, he put his arms on either side of her and pushed himself slightly upright, trying to keep from crushing Yuffie while at the same time trying to maintain a shred of dignity. He wound up on his knees on top of the girl, her unbelievable legs wrapped around his waist. Normally he would have been thrilled by the situation, but his soaked clothing was chilly and clung heavily to his skin.

Her high-pitched cackle wasn't helping matters either.

"You soaked my suit again, kid," he griped.

She shrugged, giggling. "It needed the wash anyway."

He smirked, pressing his hips into hers to remind her of the situation. When she felt him, hard, between her thighs, the laughter trailed away into a breathy moan. She looked at him, hair dark as blood as it hung around his face and spilled over them both, eyes focused, skin pale, and slipped her hand behind his neck. Dragging his lips down to hers, she felt him shift until his arms were wrapped around her and he rested comfortably along her body. He coaxed open her lips, and when she obeyed they both became lost in the dizzying sensation of wet mouths and warm tongues.

He was overwhelming, skilled and certain. She was inescapable, insistent and wild. Things quickly began to spiral out of control, the both of them reaching for more and more, touching and tasting and gasping. Reno had never felt crazier, making out like a teenager with a wet, soapy girl ten years his junior. Except she wasn't just some girl, she was Yuffie Kisaragi: unstoppable, gauche, ridiculous, lanky, materia hungry Yuffie Kisaragi.

He couldn't keep his hands from shaking as he slid them over her ribs, a disturbing thought for somebody who considered himself a cool and collected lothario. He nudged her chin upwards with his lips and mouthed his way down her neck, unable to taste enough of her at once.

"Yuffie," he breathed, "just – "

His phone rang shrilly. Whatever he was going to say was lost as they both paused like they'd been caught doing something naughty. Reno dropped his head against her collarbone and swore profusely, hoping it wouldn't ring again.

It did.

Clumsily reaching over the side of the tub and fumbling with the jacket he'd discarded on the floor earlier, Reno dragged out his PHS, flipped it open, and pressed it to his damp ear. Beneath him, Yuffie tried to stay still, leaning her wet hair against his neck.

"Yea?" he sighed.

"Mark Two obtained," Tseng's smooth voice drifted into his ears. "North Division Seven B. Tracking. Intercepting in twenty. Convene at North Division Ten B immediately."

"Affirmative," Reno said, snapping his phone shut. He lifted himself gracefully from the tub, Yuffie crossing her arms over her chest uncertainly.

"Duty calls and all that crap. I'll be back as soon as I can, kid," he sighed, pulling on his coat and opening the bathroom door. "Will you be here?"

"Maybe," she shrugged noncommittally.

He released a mental groan as he glanced once at the thin remnants of the bubble bath and the sleek sheen of pale skin beneath the water.

He offered her a cocky grin, shaking his head and feeling rivulets of water seeping down his collar.

"You drive me mental," he smirked, and was gone before he could think about what he meant.

Behind him, Yuffie touched a finger to her swollen mouth, cheeks flaring crimson.

* * *

"What happened to you?" Rude asked bluntly when Reno arrived at the meeting point, damp hair straggling over his face and wet suit clinging to his lean frame.

"A ninja," he murmured under his breath. Rude nodded once.

"Where are Tseng and Elena?" the redhead asked, peering around.

"Clean up. Bridge got wise to them and they were forced to move without us. Target has been silenced."

"Fuck!" Reno swore, kicking angrily at a nearby post. "So I got called away from a writhing, naked ninja for nothing!?"

Rude shrugged.

"Reno, Rude," a cool voice interrupted, and a completely unruffled Tseng approached the two, Elena by his side. He cast a mildly curious look at the redhead. "Why are you once again wet?"

"Skinny dipping with your mom," Reno quipped sullenly.

"My mother," Tseng drawled, "is not the Single White Rose of Wutai."

Reno threw up his hands, exasperated. "Yea, yea. Are we done here?"

Tseng nodded. "Yes. Rude, head over to Rufus. Reno, thank you for your prompt attendance."

Mumbling noncommittally, Reno began to stride away, anxious to see if Yuffie had stayed in his place, but stopped for a moment, turning back to Tseng.

"Single White Rose…That's a dumb name," he said.

"It is a mark of respect for the lady of Wutai," the leader replied.

Reno rolled his eyes, striding away. "More like Skinny Loudmouthed Kleptomaniac of Wutai."

Elena watched him go, shaking her head. "How can you let him talk about your princess like that Tseng? She may be a bit unorthodox, but…"

Dark eyes moved briefly to the blonde by his side, and Tseng smiled softly. "Lady Kisaragi she may be, but Rude is more of a true lady than she is."

He reminisced for a moment, fondly. "After she reached the age of two, it became a common occurrence to see Godo or his Lady returning pilfered goods to townsfolk with their deepest apologies. By age four, they ceased apologizing."

"She was a thief even then?" Elena asked, aghast.

"Our lady is a unique creature," he continued. "For instance, she leapt on top of a banquet table during a very important dinner, shoved her shoe into a rather lovely display of hakuto jelly and declared herself the Great Pirate Puddingfoot."

"You're putting me on!" Elena said, laughing as the three began to amble away.

"I am not," he said solemnly. "Our princess is unique."

"Puddingfoot?" she snorted.

"Puddingfoot," he replied.

"Her dad must have had kittens! Couldn't Lord Godo control his own little kid?"

"This was last year," he answered smoothly.

Elena's giddy laughter brought a small smile to Tseng's face as they headed back to the Lodge.

Reno knew she was gone before he unlocked the door, and even though the lights were off and her boots were gone, he found himself once more on the threshold of the bathroom, just in case he'd been mistaken.

He leaned against the doorframe once again, staring at the empty tub and the damp mirror, where a smiley face had been drawn through the condensation. He studied it for a moment, thinking heavy, lonely things. He was beginning to think she was frightened of him.

"Coward," he scoffed, reaching a hand out and streaking it through the grinning little face before leaving and closing the door behind him.

* * *

A week later, it would all come crashing down.

* * *

Reviews are always appreciated.


	7. Chapter 6

Embitterment

By: Glass Mermaid

Disclaimer: I own nothing that you recognize.

AN: I'm sorry for always making you guys wait for new chapters, but I have to make sure everything is correct. I don't have a beta, see? I'm sorry for any errors I have missed despite my efforts.

Also, this story is completed already. I will be posting chapters weekly, so that I can double check them all and make sure everything is correct. On with the show!

* * *

Chapter Six

* * *

Yuffie cursed the day she had given her father her number, as the only reason he even bothered with one of the elaborate PHS's was to keep careful tabs on her travels. She was taking a quick inventory of her things, making sure Denzel hadn't filched one of her throwing stars again, when it had rang.

She had debated not picking it up when she saw that it was Godo on the display, because in twenty minutes she was due downstairs to learn how to mix a Blue Junon from Tifa, but she knew he'd just send poor Shake after her if she didn't answer.

She'd picked up with an exaggerated groan of annoyance, flopped on her bed, and was now in the middle of a thorough parental reprimand. Having heard of her extended stay in Edge, Godo was now chastising her for being remiss in her duties.

"Do you understand how important your connection to the WRO is?" he was lecturing.

"Yes Dad," she sighed loudly, doodling a picture of herself fighting Cloud (and totally kicking butt) on a scrap of paper with a pen she'd found earlier. "I totally understand."

"Than why have you chosen this path? Why do you forsake your obligation to Reeve Tuesti?" The tone in his voice was one of command rather than question, but his daughter was not intimidated.

"Gawd! I'm so not _forsaking_ Reeve! Think of this as an extended, very well deserved, vacation," she said with a roll of her eyes, scribbling exaggerated spikes on Cloud's hair.

"Than why has he called me asking for answers about you? Why does he remain in the dark about your reasoning, daughter? He is no _mere_ friend, he is the leader of the largest organization aiding this world. You should feel honored to be a ranking member of his order!"

Yuffie snorted, sitting up and shoving her work of art to the floor.

"Dad, you make it sound like he's taking over the world! Reeve is my friend, and yea, he's kind of my boss right now, but that doesn't give him the right to call and ask _you_ about me. Next time he calls, tell him I'm going to make him eat an entire chocobo, feathers and all if he keeps harassing you!"

Godo's frustrated growl was heard.

"Your threat is idiocy, daughter, but if he calls me again, I _will_ relay it. If nothing else, forcing him to eat that chocobo would mean your return to his side!"

"You old goat!" she shrilled.

"You unreasonable chit!" he returned.

"What's a chit?" she asked with a frown.

Godo paused, thinking. "I do not know, exactly."

Yuffie grinned. "Don't use words you don't know the meaning of, loser! That just makes you look stupid. What if you tried to compliment some foreign dignitary and ended up calling him a headless trout or something?"

"That," he sniffed, "will never happen."

"Uh huh," she laughed. "Look, Godo, it's been a blast getting yelled at and everything just like old times, but I'm a busy ninja girl. I've got hands to shake, diplomacy to extend and all that… So I'll look forward to your blustering next month, okay?"

She waited for her father to reply, frowning slightly at his hesitation.

"Dad?"

"Yuffie," he said quietly, "is everything truly well? Is there anything you need to tell me?"

She thought, for a panicky moment that he was referring to Reno, than realized he couldn't possibly know anything about the Turk, because even _she_ didn't know what was going on with him.

"You mean my butt kicking adventures with a couple assassins?" she asked, relieved.

"You were unharmed?"

"Dad, I'm so tough I'm practically leather! Did that make sense or does it just sound like I've got old skin? Whatever, Dad, they didn't even land a hit," she reassured him, keeping her fingers firmly crossed as she thought of the burning, agonized tear down her thigh and the tender scar that remained.

She heard him sigh in relief, and felt justified. Godo was getting older. He needed to worry about all kinds of boring political stuff, trade agreements, exports, imports… He didn't need to be constantly worried about her while she ran around Gaia.

"Daughter, you must be careful. There are rumors in Wutai, trouble caused by one of the ancient houses. Shake and Staniv are tracing the roots of these rumors, but have yet to find which house has been slandering you."

"Me?" she snorted.

"Think nothing of it, daughter. I will get to the bottom of it and put a halt to this nonsense."

Yuffie snickered inside, thinking that only the leader of a town filled with ninjas would refer to an assassination attempt as nonsense.

"Yea, yea, Godo. Just make sure you tell Reeve about the chocobo. See you!"

"Farewell," he sighed, and disconnected.

Yuffie spent a moment frowning at her phone, because she'd been dealing with assassins her entire life. What kind of garbage was somebody spouting that caused her dad to get angry enough to respond? What house had it in for her?

"Whatever," she muttered out loud, "Yuffie Kisaragi can take whatever you can throw at her!"

Cheered, she stood and went to find Tifa.

* * *

The buxom barmaid shook her head, exasperated, and poured the contents of Yuffie's highball glass into the sink.

"Too much melon, Yuffie. You need one ounce of each, okay?"

Infinitely patient, Tifa was helping the younger girl learn how to mix some of the sillier drinks ordered around the bar. She'd graduated from Blue Junon's, could make a decent Screwdriver, an awesome Chocobo Chanel and was moving on to a Shady Lady.

"But it's not _sweet_ that way," the ninja whined.

Tifa shrugged, smiling. "Not everyone likes a drink that makes them feel like they've just swallowed a bag of sugar."

"Well," the other pouted, "everyone is dumb."

But dutifully, she added the melon liqueur and the tequila in equal parts, followed by grapefruit juice. Tifa took a careful sip, nodded, and gave the girl the thumbs up.

The ninja whooped, punching her fist into the air before shoving a slice of lime onto the edge of the glass and a topping it with a cherry.

"Awesome!" she crowed. "I am so totally amazing, I almost amaze my amazing self!"

Rolling her eyes, Tifa pointed to a group of customers that had just walked in.

"Well, while you amaze yourself washing that glass out, I'm going to go take their orders."

Yuffie sighed, muttering about the waste of good booze, but washed out the glass. She was bent behind the counter checking over the list of drinks trying to decide on which one had the funniest name so she could learn to make it, when Reno's familiar, conceited laughter hit her ears. Squeaking, she peeked above the edge of the bar and saw him tossing a comment over his shoulder at the hulking form of Rude.

The last time she'd seen him she was naked in his bathtub with him on top of her, kissing him for all she was worth.

Her cheeks felt like they were about to erupt into flames as she recalled the wanton way she'd wrapped her legs around him, and the heady, languid gleam in his eyes.

_Oh my Gawd, who'd have thought Reno of the Turkeys would drive me crazy in a _good_ way?_ she thought, biting her lip as he moved across the bar and took a seat, glancing around as he did. _And is he looking around for _me?

She did an awkward, giddy kick of glee, crouching back down as she heard Tifa greet them, and began to debate on the best way to get out from behind the counter while maintaining her ever present and suave dignity.

Her stomach was twisted into a dozen keyed up knots of excitement and anticipation. She felt like a breathless, moronic ninny with the most humongous crush ever because _Reno of the Turks_ was _here_ and he might have _looked_ _around_ for her!

...And she actually got tingles right down to her toes when she remembered the way his mouth had felt on her skin.

"Yuffie?"

Mouth falling agape, she glanced beside her, her eyes following up a pair of dusty black boots, black pants, blue turtleneck and finally, blond hair.

"Shoo Cloud! Shoo!" she hissed, all thoughts of illicit embraces abruptly dissipating.

He stared at her, confused.

"Why are you hiding behind the counter?"

She shook her hands frantically; wondering if Reno had seen Cloud, and if he had seen Cloud, was wondering why Cloud was talking to the floor.

"I'm not hiding," she growled, "I'm… I'm spying on Tifa!"

The blonde glanced up, eyes cooling momentarily when they spotted the brunette standing beside the table the Turks had chosen.

"Why?" he asked, returning his eyes to the squatting girl.

"Because she's talking to Rude and… that other one," Yuffie glared, impatient.

Now he knew she was lying, and sighing, Cloud bent down and hauled the protesting ninja up, ignoring her frantic attempts to kick him in the shin.

"Yuffie, I thought Vincent warned you about him," he said, jerking his chin at the redhead.

Yuffie's eyes narrowed. "Vincent blabbed, didn't he?"

"About finding you about to launch yourself bodily at Reno's door?" he murmured, "yes, he did."

"That little tattletale!" she snapped, throwing a punch into the palm of her hand. "I am _so_ going to teach him to keep his enormous trap shut!"

Eyeing her seriously, the swordsmen shrugged. "Vincent doesn't want you getting over your head, Yuffie. He's your friend."

Yuffie smoothed her hair down, palms sweaty, pulse jumping, as she cast a nervous glance over at Reno's table. She was thankful that he hadn't noticed her yet. Unless he had, and was pretending he hadn't! She glanced at Cloud, who watched her silently.

"Friends," she muttered pointedly, "need to know when to let other friends stand on their own two feet."

She pushed past him and scurried over to Reno's table, trying to ignore the fact that she felt unbearably aware of her limbs, and that each one seemed intent on causing her to fall flat on her face in front of him. When she finally reached the redhead, he turned to her, glanced upward, and a slow smile lit his face, more open than she'd ever seen.

_Reno can actually smile normally! Who knew?_

She felt her breath catch, heart in her throat, and didn't know whether to leap up and down excitedly, or just take a seat.

"Hiya, Turkey," she said, grinning.

"Hey, kid," he returned, his eyes letting her know that he had most certainly not forgotten how they'd last met.

Her heart pounded, she opened her mouth to speak, and suddenly Reno was looking behind her and that amazing, open smile was sliding away.

"Evening, Strife," he smirks, cool and cocky once more.

Aghast, Yuffie looked behind her to see that Cloud had followed her to their table. Spinning, she stomped her foot on the ground and pointed a finger at him.

"You! What part of my dramatic exit didn't you understand?!"

"Be quiet, Yuffie," he sighed, and hurt, the ninja's face fell. "You can't just walk away from your problems."

"You're a real downer, Cloud," she said, clenching her teeth and looking away. He was her friend but he embarrassing her, humiliating her! She felt like throwing his own words back in his face, because he'd _always_ been the one to walk away from his problems, but bit her tongue.

_Stupid blonde! Acts like he rules the world because he wields a humongous sword and has saved the whole thing once or twice…_

She made a face at his back.

"Reno," the blonde was saying, ignoring her now, "what business have you got with Yuffie?"

Reno's eyes narrowed. He shook his head. His infamous temper had begun fraying as soon as Strife butted in to his conversation was Yuffie. He'd waited an entire _week _for her to show up again but she hadn't so he'd come to her, and she'd given him that sweet, ridiculously bright smile… and than Cloud came to play big brother.

"The bendy little ninja and I are kinky fuck buddies, Strife, that's it," he sighed, lolling his head back against the back of the chair and giving Yuffie a suggestive look.

"I want the truth," Cloud replied coolly.

Yuffie began to feel humiliated and furious at her friend's bland statement.

Did it really seem so far fetched to Cloud that somebody might find her physically attractive? She knew that she was pretty skinny, and had scabs on her elbows from when she tripped over Marlene the other day, and yea, she didn't wear make up or earrings or anything and her eyes were so huge they practically swallowed her face and Cid had once told her that she didn't even have to bother with a bra if she didn't feel like it (She'd punched him.) but she _still_ had charm!

"That isn't my problem," Reno was scoffing when she dragged her angrily cavorting thoughts back in line.

"It will be," the blonde said, shrugging darkly.

Tifa, having noticed the commotion, arrived at the table and looked around. Yuffie threw her a pleading glance, urging her to take Cloud away. And quick, or he was going to have a shuriken shoved in his skull. The brunette looked from the swordsmen's stiff back to Reno's arch glare and back to the pleading girl.

"Uh, there's a call for you on the office phone, Cloud. The, uh, man said it was urgent."

Cloud looked at her and then nodded, throwing a last glance at the Turks that promised that their conversation wasn't over before heading up the stairs.

When he was gone, Tifa looked questioningly at the trio. "What's going on? Why did I have to lie to Cloud?"

"No time! No time! I'll tell you later but now there is no time!" Yuffie said, dancing on the spot. She grabbed Reno's hand, pulling his tall form upward and then skirting around the table and trying to push an amused Rude to his feet. Letting go of the silent man, she darted around several tables and ducked behind the bar, retrieving her large shuriken from behind it and shoving it into the holster on her back.

"Tifa, I love you! You are the most amazingly beautiful person in the world and I adore you and will give you a billion dozen and five chocolate hearts filled with delicious gooey cream for being such a cool friend!" She ranted as she thrust the protesting Turks out the front door of Seventh Heaven, leaving a bemused, slightly worried Tifa behind them.

* * *

Reno felt like a dozen kinds of fool when she grabbed his hand and they took off down the street, and he looked back over his shoulder to see Rude slipping into the shadows the opposite way. Silently, he thanked his partner for getting out of the picture before turning back to the laughing girl.

"Sticking it to the man!" she whooped, punching a fist in the air.

They slowed down after taking the corner, and she let go of his hand, putting her own on her hips and standing triumphantly.

"Yuffie Kisaragi wins again!" she crowed.

Reno snickered, eyeing her pose. "You look like an ass."

In retaliation, she turned around and wiggled hers at him.

"I barely even _have_ one," she admitted, sulking and attempting to peer over her shoulder to level a critical look at her own behind as she remembered Cloud's skepticism.

Shrugging, Reno leaned back against the wall and looked her over. "I like what I see."

Yuffie snorted with laughter.

"I'm totally fishing for compliments, and you sound like you're trying to pick me up in a bar."

"Technically," he mused, "I just did."

"Gross!" she laughed, and she linked her arm in his and began to walk down the street.

Reno felt like a kid on his first date as his stomach tightened with giddy pleasure. He tried to shrug off the feelings, knowing – _knowing_ – that he should get the fuck out of here before he lost his head or realized he already had.

"Where to? Tifa will keep Chocobo-head busy I bet, so the world is our oyster!"

He looked at her askance. "Aside from bars, I don't know shit about this city."

"But you live here," she said disbelievingly. "You must know something! A coffee shop, a park, a food store, an item shop?"

"First off, I'm not taking you anywhere that valuables could go conspicuously missing. Second, do I look like somebody who grocery shops? Third, chances are you've already met your caffeine quota for the day, and frankly the thought of you over-stimulated is terrifying."

She kicked the ground sulkily. "What than? Should we just lean against walls glaring at people and looking rebellious? I want to _do_ something!"

Reno pondered, trying to think of what to do but coming up pretty short on ideas that didn't involve nudity and sheets.

"We could take the Shinra helicopter out for a joyride?" he suggested.

"Yes, gawd yes, but I can't because I get motion sickness," she groaned.

He leered at her. "Can't we just go to my place and fuck?"

Glaring, she skittered around him and kicked him in the shin. He winced.

"I'm The Single White Rose of Wutai, Turkey, not one of your cheap little tarts!"

"You didn't seem to mind when we were in the bathtub," he shrugged.

"Charming," she said, "but notice how I'm leaving now?"

She spun on her heel and made to dash away, and grinning, Reno grabbed her by the waist and dragged her back, careful of the sharp edges of her weapon. She squeaked, irritated, as he pushed her against the wall and leaned into her space.

"You keep running from me when things get interesting," he murmured.

"Since when are things interesting with _you?_" she said pertly, but her cheeks were crimson.

He shrugged, hands sliding up her shoulders and pulling her flush against him. He nipped her lower lip once, then again, teasing her with the barest brushes of his mouth against hers. She sighed, eyes fluttering shut, and Reno gave in, slanting his mouth against hers and deepening the kiss. Her hands darted over his chest, up to the spikes of his hair. He sat up slightly and she shifted higher up his body, both intent on getting more of one another even if they were in the middle of a busy street.

"Kisaragi!" a deep voice suddenly intoned.

Startled, Yuffie pulled her mouth away from Reno's and looked to where a group of four men were standing beside them, two dressed in dark blue robes, and the other two in red. They each wore a pale mask on their face, but their long black hair was uncovered, tied back in identical tails.

Annoyed by the interruption, the redhead gave them a lazy once over. He didn't bother removing his arms from around the girl, as he intended to keep kissing her as soon as he got rid of their audience.

"Uh," Reno snickered, "you guys are the worst cross dressers I've ever seen."

The men ignored him completely though, their focus remaining on the tiny girl under his hands. Reno's eyes sharpened as he glanced from them back to Yuffie. She wasn't smiling; instead, she was looking at them with an unfamiliar sadness and a mild trace of fear in her gaze. He let her go, a cold alertness settling over him as he realized they were all carrying weaponry. He felt like an idiot for letting his guard down.

They'd probably been watching the bar, waiting for the girl to leave. Reno knew that if she were his hit, he sure as hell wouldn't risk attacking her in a house protected by Strife and Tifa either.

"Kisaragi," the man said the name like a curse, his voice muffled by his mask, "you are in disgrace."

He drew his sword, a vicious looking katana, as he spoke.

The unlucky pedestrians walking along the sidewalk scattered, some running, some watching with wide-eyed fear.

Yuffie's eyes narrowed; sorrow disappearing as defiance took its place. She swept into a graceful battle crouch, shuriken ready. "Oh yea? Says who?"

"Say we, daughter of Godo, and those who have asked this duty of us. You have brought shame to our empire with your disrespect and dishonor. We will tolerate no more."

Yuffie rolled her eyes. "Is this that whole, women should be in the kitchen thing? You're like, trying to kill me because I don't wear a kimono? Gawd! That's so the last time I help save the world for any of _you_!"

"Silence," he commanded. "Bring us no further shame."

"I've been this _shameful_ forever, you idiot! What's so different now?" she shouted, offended and perplexed.

Lifting his sword, the man assumed an offensive stance. "Speak no more, child. Die with dignity."

He charged her, sweeping his sword in a smooth arc towards her body that she countered with her oversized weapon. At the first clashing of blades the other three men entered the fray, and Reno watched, paralyzed for a moment with disbelief and cold fear, as she became a blur of silver weaponry and pale skin, dodging, blocking, parrying everything they offered.

She was fluid and deadly and beautiful, but there was no time to admire her for it.

He cursed, un-holstering his EMR as he leapt forward, and striking one of the swordsmen brutally in the back of the skull with it. The man crumpled, katana clanging to the sidewalk, and the longhaired leader gave Yuffie a vicious glare.

"Your lover fights without honor," he hissed.

"Fuck you," Reno snorted, dodging as one of the other men broke away from Yuffie and began striking at him. "Four against one? Look in a mirror if you want to whine about dishonor!"

Yuffie flipped artfully backwards, putting as much distance between herself and her two remaining attackers. Even if she landed a killing blow against one of them, throwing her shuriken would leave her without a weapon to counter her second adversary's attack. Swearing, she snatched one of her throwing stars from the holster on her thigh and threw it while trying to keep the space between them growing. The second man cried out when it struck his arm, but kept coming. The leader did not falter.

"Strike us down and more will be sent in our stead, Kisaragi," he said angrily.

"_Why?_" she asked, pained, and blocked another swing of his sword.

She'd saved the world! She'd fought for them! She wanted to lead them, her people, to great things. She wanted to bring back their dignity! Just because she was unconventional, she'd been declared dishonored? It made no sense.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw the red sheen of Reno's hair as he fought hand to hand with one of her assailants, but could spare him no more than a glance before the two men were slashing at her again.

Lashing out with her foot, she spun, trying to knock the sword from the leader's wrist. He winced but held firm and she darted away, breaking into a weaving run as she hurled throwing stars at the two men.

_Don't hit civilians! Don't hit civilians__,_ she chanted frantically inside.

One struck the already injured man and he went down, bleeding from the throat. The leader swore, glancing down at his fallen comrade, and his second of distraction was all Yuffie needed to throw her shuriken. She let it fly, but he was well trained and dodged the ricocheting pinwheel. She caught it as it flew past her head, and was trying to get another clear throw when an immensely loud shot rang out, drawing their attention to Reno's fight.

As the leader halted, glancing behind him at his final fallen comrade, Yuffie, rage fueling her, sent her shuriken in a deadly spin towards him. He jerked back, too slow to block her weapon, and ended up with several of the points cleaving deeply into his chest. Blood sprayed, poured, hot and profuse upon the sidewalk and along the windows of a dress shop. He fell to his knees, eyes behind the mask narrowed on her until the very end, then collapsed awkwardly on his side, dead.

She looked up to see Reno, gun still aimed at the corpse of the man he'd been fighting, looking at her blankly.

_Disgrace? Shame? What is _happening_ here?_

Yuffie was suddenly horrified to feel her chin shaking, her lips quivering as her eyes filled with tears, because damn everything and everyone but she didn't deserve _this_.

Reno said nothing, merely holstering his rarely used firearm and stepping out of the pool of blood spreading from beneath the man's head. In a fit of spite and fury, he leveled a kick at the body of the other fallen man, before lifting his eyes to the startled Yuffie. Something dark and cold bled behind the cool hue of his eyes for a second before he blinked and it disappeared.

"You know them?" he asked skeptically.

Kneeling beside the body of the leader, she yanked her shuriken out, ignoring the feel of blade on bone and muscle. She pulled up his mask and then shook her head.

"No," she said simply.

But looking at their clothing, their weapons, their dark hair and their speech, she knew that they were Wutaian. They were her people. She didn't think she needed to know much more.

_Wutai. Her Wutai. Her people. Her country, her empire, her houses her pagoda her food her festivals hermountainhermartialartsherpeoplepeoplepeoplehowcouldtheydidtheyreallywasittruetheywantedherdead!_

The horrified onlookers who had remained behind began to shift nearer, the whispers growing like the hiss of a cat in her ears. Yuffie backed away from the bodies, and Reno, who had come closer, grabbed her elbow.

"Time to use some of those ninja skills you're always bragging about and disappear," he muttered, hauling her along.

Nobody tried to stop them, and when they rounded the corner Reno pulled her into a run. He was unsettled by her silence. She'd told him she'd been attacked before, why the hell was it so different this time?

"Kid," he said, tugging her through alleys, down sidewalks, getting closer and closer to the safety of his apartment. He didn't know what to say, or how to say it. "Did I ever mention how sexy you are when you're kicking serious ass?"

She laughed once, loud and sudden and disquieting, before letting out a wild sob, than doing both at once, because she never couldsettle on the simplistic. He dragged her through the streets and up the stairs and to the door to his home, and she stumbled on, clinging to him, hysterical tears running rivers down her cheeks and wild, frantic peals of laughter echoing dissonantly behind them.

* * *

I'm always delighted to get feedback!


	8. Chapter 7

Embitterment

By: Glass Mermaid

Disclaimer: I own nothing that you recognize.

AN: And things take a turn for the worst.

Also, this story is completed already. I will be posting chapters weekly, so that I can double check them all and make sure everything is correct. On with the show!

* * *

Chapter Seven

* * *

AN: Some people might feel that this chapter should probably have an R rating, as it contains some adult themes.

* * *

He had awkwardly wrapped her up in his blankets while she shivered and clung to the tails of her bandana and tried to explain to him why she was so broken. She failed, ending up weeping with nothing but a pile of disjointed sentences about the WRO, Godo, and Wutaian customs and how hard she'd tried to do things right for her people, to fill the silence between them.

He was hopeless and inept at comforting her, and could only trace the edge of the streetlights against the shadows on his wall with his eyes, listening to the way she let out great, ugly, aching sobs with an abandon he'd never allow himself. A part of him wanted to tell her to get her act together; she'd saved the damn world more than once, why was this so different? But he couldn't bring himself to be so harsh, paralyzed by a helpless tenderness that made him hold her tighter each time shivers wracked her tiny body.

Her crying was in no way delicate, in no way restrained. Her face was red and twisted and wet, and he kept wiping away the tears with his sleeve until he realized how useless it was to do so and kept his arm wrapped over her shoulder. They had ended up in a clumsy, uncomfortable embrace, with one of Reno's long legs dangling off the edge of the bed, the other knee bent and braced against the mattress. She lay between his thighs, her arms tucked between her chest and his, her hands curled beneath her chin, her legs outstretched.

He'd never held a woman as she wept before. They'd never run to him. He wasn't the running to kind. He'd never stroked their hair. He'd never whispered to them. He'd never tried to wipe away their tears. He'd never wanted to see them smile as badly as he did right now.

He's glad he hadn't. It's frightening to feel so tender and so helpless.

Exhausted by the force of her own crying, she fell asleep, and in the heavy silence she left him with, Reno could do nothing except smooth his pale hands over her skin and watch the shadows bleed over the walls.

* * *

The evening sunset was weak and watery as it seeped over his living room floor. It slipped feebly over his feet, and had just began brushing at the edge of his coffee stable when Reno heard Yuffie stirring.

The clumsy thud of body meeting floor, followed by a childish whine of startled pain made him smirk. He tapped some cigarette ash out against the windowsill.

He heard her slip out of his bedroom and into his bathroom. He heard the hiss of the shower begin. Still he didn't bother getting up.

The little ninja had slept the entire day away, leaving him to think and to speculate, leaving him to make calls to Tseng and Rude, leaving him to tell Rufus he was taking the day off. He wanted to be there when she woke up. He had to stop her from doing anything stupid.

The shower shut off just as he finished his cigarette, and he listened hard, wishing he could make out the gentle hush of terrycloth against skin. He stood, moving to lean against his wall as she came out, offering him a tight, ill-fitting smile as she tugged on her boots and began the elaborate chore of lacing them.

Neither of them had much experience with pensive or brooding. It showed.

Reno knew what she was going to say before she said it. He'd known for hours.

"I'm going after them," she said, focusing hard on the slim scar running up her leg. She remained crouched on one knee, fingers resting idly on the laces of her new boots.

Still leaning lazily against the wall, he watched the tails of her bandana slide over her shoulder and pool beside her foot.

"No," he said simply.

Her eyes snapped up to his, dark with defiance. "Oh? You think you can stop me?"

"I think," he drawled, "that if you used even the slightest amount of the cunning I know you've got, you'd see that that isn't the way to deal with this."

Yuffie stood swiftly, an edge to her movements rendering her further graceless as she stalked around his living room.

"I'm not just going to stand here while they keep throwing assassins my way. I have to stand up for myself!"

Laughing disbelievingly, Reno pushed himself off the wall with a jerk.

"This isn't a fucking playground and they aren't bullies, kid. These are trained killers, and they want you _dead_. You don't just charge after assassins. You're a ninja, for fucks sake, you should know better than anyone that nine times out of ten they're going to come at you from behind. If you're too busy running after them, you're going to wind up with a knife in the back."

Crossing her arms protectively over her chest, Yuffie felt her throat tightening with anger and embarrassment. She wasn't a child; she was an experienced fighter. She was capable of looking after herself. He'd _seen_ her fight. Why didn't anyone believe in her?

As if reading her thoughts, he shook his head. "This isn't a matter of how good you are, or how strong, or how skilled. They've been sending bigger and bigger groups, right? That means whoever is after you has got funds and connections. You might not be outclassed, kid, but they've got you outnumbered. Sometimes that's enough."

Reno's mind flashed on Zack Fair, then quickly away.

"They're Wutaian," she whispered.

Reno shrugged. "What difference does that make?"

Yuffie shot him an angry glance. "Um, all in the world? All those jerks have been Wutaian, so whoever keeps kicking them my way is from my country. It could be one of the lords! It could be one of the ancient houses! That means it's somebody I _know_. Don't you get it, Turkey? It means my _own_ people want me dead," she cried.

Inwardly, Reno steeled himself. Outwardly, he rolled his eyes and dug into his pocket for a smoke as he sauntered into his kitchen. "Don't be stupid. There was a shit load of time and opportunity to off you over the years, but you're still walking and talking, right? Relax, kid."

He paused, cigarette dangling from his mouth, and patted his pockets down in an effort to find a lighter, frowning in concentration. The small hand that suddenly wrenched him around by the arm didn't surprise him too much, but the sharp blow to his cheek that snapped his head to the side and knocked the cigarette to the floor did.

He lifted cold blue eyes to the furious ninja.

"You owe me a smoke," he murmured.

"My mother died during the Shinra wars saving me from an assassin," she snarled, "and I'm not going to insult her memory by waiting for them to come kill me!"

Calmly, carefully, Reno withdrew another cigarette, pressed it between his lips, and lit it. Inhaling deeply, he slowly and deliberately blew the smoke into Yuffie's livid face.

"I don't give a fuck about your pathetic mother," he breathed.

Whether her eyes began watering from the smoke or his words he didn't know, but the next instant she struck him again, a blow so hard his ears rang. Luckily, his cigarette was firmly held between his index and middle fingers, safely out of harms way.

"Third times a charm," he goaded cruelly.

Teeth bared and eyes brimming with tears, she moved to hit him again and he struck as quickly as a snake, taking advantage of her wild emotions and the weakness it bore. He grabbed her wrists, shoving her hard against the counter until it dug sharply into her back, and then pushed his leg between her thighs and forced her upwards so she couldn't get any decent leverage. She was effectively pinned to the counter, and she wept and gnashed her teeth as she struggled with him.

"I didn't even drop my smoke," he murmured, voice low and silken and infinitely pitiless, "and all it took to turn you into a weak, useless, clumsy mess was a few words. Those assholes out there are going to know more about you than _you_ do. It's their job; I know because it's mine too. I pulled my punches tonight. They won't _ever_ pull theirs."

"I hate you, Reno!" she spat, face red with tears and rage.

Her arms were sore and she was humiliated and he was right, right, _right_ and she hated him. The redhead shrugged indifferently, and stubbed his smoke out on the counter beside her.

"I don't hate you, Yuffie," he murmured, and kissed her like he wanted her to break.

She kissed him back with all the frustration and fury she could feel flowing in her veins, wishing she could absorb all his arrogance and insolence and make him seem somehow human. His mouth was firm and skilled and she loathed him for every woman he'd ever kissed. His hands were deft and dexterous and she detested him for every punch he'd ever thrown. His eyes were soft and hot as they met her own, and she despised him for every heart he'd ever broken.

He released her wrists and she wound her arms around his neck, dug her fingers into his hair and pulled just to hurt. He winced as the flimsy elastic holding his ponytail together snapped, and pushed her back harder into the edge of the counter in retaliation. Yuffie felt his arms release her for a frantic, crazed moment where she thought he was leaving her and she was going to rupture into a million pieces of disappointment and bitterness, but his hands returned to clutch her hips and lift her onto the countertop. She bit his lip hard enough to bruise. He pinched her small breasts in revenge before yanking her shirt over her head and tossing it aside. She shoved and pulled at his stupid blue coat, tore away the stubborn buttons of his sloppy white shirt.

He was pale and skinny and scarred, and she wished she could add a thousand more scars to every inch of his body with her short, ragged nails. _Yuffie was here_, she wanted his skin to read. _Kisaragi property_. His hair bled over his shoulders, cool against her fingers as she twisted it around them. She lifted her hips at his insistent urging, her shorts were gone, and in an instant her nerve endings seared with electrified pleasure and pain because he was inside her, inside her, inside her, and nothing had ever felt so good.

Distantly, the ninja could hear the dishes in the cupboard rattling rhythmically, her head colliding against the door each time he drove into her. She tried to steady herself, throwing an arm behind her to clutch the cold counter, but only succeeded in knocking dishes to the floor with a thunderous crash. He laved at her neck, biting sharply, sucking brutally, and she hissed and dropped her head back against the cupboards. She could hear his panting, his groans, and her own voice wailing his name, and knew that she should have been humiliated… But her body was spiraling out and away from her, the anger and resentment losing the battle to the gratification his body was offering. As she came, her body pierced with a pleasure that bordered on pain, she clawed her way down his back and listened to him curse her name.

Reno felt her shuddering around his body like a wild thing and sank his teeth into her shoulder, trying to keep the howl inside his throat from spilling out. He tasted her blood as his teeth broke the skin, held her to him as tightly as she was clinging to him, and felt her heart racing as he climaxed so hard that for a moment he couldn't breath.

Sweating, aching, gasping, they held one another in the aftermath.

Feeling like an addict coming off a high, Yuffie panted for air, clutching at him with uncertain hands that petted and stroked and smoothed, but never settled.

"Fuck," he said uncertainly.

Yuffie swallowed and pushed him gently away. For a moment, he wouldn't go, and she felt a moment of panic because she hadn't _meant_ for this to happen and it was totally unromantic and startling and he wasn't even her boyfriend yet even though she felt like swallowing her entire heart every time he came near her and how dare he look so unguarded and surprised when she _knew_ seduction was his art!

"Reno," she said shakily, and hearing the note of panic in her unsure voice, he withdrew.

Unabashed with his state of undress, he ran a hand through his loose hair, panting, and blinked a few times to try to dismiss the dumb haziness of the afterglow from his mind. Yuffie slid off the counter on rubbery legs, and he fought the urge to touch her as she shakily gathered her clothes.

Fuck, what next, pillow talk?

"Look, kid, I-"

"Don't talk, Turkey," she whispered, shaking chipped porcelain from her shirt.

He surveyed the mess that was his kitchen, wanting to swear and smirk with equal fervor. He'd had good sex. He'd had bad sex. He'd had awful sex. He'd had great sex. But that had been… More. His heart was pounding. He looked at her and felt like he's been kicked in the gut.

"Let's just go get in the shower. We're both a mess," she sighed, refusing to meet his eyes.

Shrugging, feeling like an uncertain teen who had just asked a girl out and had gotten soundly rejected, Reno wandered into the bathroom and sullenly jerked on the water. He listened to the gentle roar for a moment as it swirled into the tub, then he switched it to the shower. Rubbing his eyes, he snagged a towel from the hall closet and moved back to the kitchen.

"I didn't – "

Whatever he was going to say ended abruptly when he saw no sign of the girl. Cursing, he rushed to the living room, then the bedroom, but she wasn't there.

She'd run. She'd fucking _bolted_.

Snarling, he retrieved his pants, pulling them on while shoving his arms into his shirt and coat. Darting back into the bathroom he twisted off the taps and raced back out. He yanked on his shoes, grabbed his EMR holster and his cell, and took off out the door.

Snatching his PHS up, he dialed Rude, cursing as he rushed down the apartment steps.

"Talk." A deep voice ordered, and Reno rolled his eyes.

"Rude, it's me. I fucked up again."

His partner waited patiently for him to continue, and as Reno pushed his way outside, he realized he was too disconcerted to even be upset that Rude didn't seem at all surprised.

"Look," he sighed, scraping his hand through his hair. "The ninja just ditched me, and I think she might be doing something really fucking stupid. Meet me at that stupid coffee shop Tseng likes. I'm going to need your help tracking her down."

"Done," Rude said, and disconnected.

Reno swore colorfully, and searched the area around him for any sign of which way she'd gone.

* * *

"I thought you were good with the ladies," Rude rumbled as his disheveled partner walked up to him.

Reno glared at the taller man, the furrows she'd dug in his back stinging wickedly. "Ninjas are a whole different story," he snapped.

Rude shrugged, but behind his ever-present sunglasses, concern darkened his gaze. Instead of his usual look of deliberately tousled bad boy, Reno seemed sloppy and unsettled. His buttons were incorrectly done up, his hair was loose and drifting over his shoulders, and his leather holster could be easily seen underneath his lapels, his white shirt bunching around it so far he could see part of his stomach.

As if he sensed his partner's gaze, Reno withdrew a thick black elastic and pulled his hair into its usual tail. He tried to fix himself up a bit, tugging his shirt right and yanking on his lapels.

"The ninja wants to track down these assholes that are after her. I talked some shit, we fought, and the next thing I knew she'd tricked me and taken off."

Rude glanced down at Reno's half undone pants. The redhead caught the glimpse.

"And yea, I screwed her," he said defensively.

Rude said nothing.

"Don't give me that!" Reno snapped. "Anyway, a girl that can bend the way she does can't _possibly_ be innocent."

"Where should we start?" the other man said.

"By talking to her cronies at the bar, I guess," Reno frowned. "I don't even know if she told them what's been going down. We can ask around, beat the streets and see if anyone's seen a skinny little girl running up walls or something."

He took several steps away from his partner then turned and headed back.

"I'm heading to Seventh Heaven. How about you grab us each a coffee and then catch up, because if I don't get some caffeine I'm going to be useless in about ten minutes. I'll call Tseng and see what he can bring to the table. You call Elena."

He took off again, shaking his bright head. "We've got to find her. She's too dumb to look after herself."

Rude silently agreed to the agitated commands, heading into the store behind him.

Sharp eyes open as he dialed his leader, Reno ducked into an alley and began to cut his way through the shadier parts of Edge towards Tifa's bar. He hoped he was wrong and the brat had just ran home to her buddies, but he didn't want to risk it.

"Reno of the Turks," a cold, arrogant voice slithered from the shadows.

Halting, the redhead immediately slid into a deceptively casual stance, shutting his phone. The venom within the voice was distinct, and his eyes followed the sound of it to an adjoining alleyway. A woman, brunette, dressed in civilian clothing, stepped carefully towards him, a gun held in her shaking hands.

"Ah, fuck everything," Reno sighed, exasperated.

The woman before him was one of four leaders of the terrorist organization Rufus had ordered silenced. She narrowed her eyes at him, pulling back the safety on the gun.

"I got lucky, finding you running around like a chocobo with its head cut off. I can't believe an idiot like you gutted the whole operation." She glanced warily into the shadows. "Out intel said you were hardly ever without the big quiet one."

"We're on a break," he sneered. "I'm a commitment phobe and he's too clingy."

"Cute," she replied. "But pretty shitty last words."

Reno tensed, awaiting the shot, but the whistle of spinning metal rent the air and a throwing star sped by, slicing deeply into the woman's wrist. She screamed, dropping her gun and grabbing at the star imbedded in her arm. As soon as Yuffie's weapon had struck Reno had moved, and he kicked the woman's gun farther away before lashing out with his other leg and breaking the woman's nose with a satisfying crack. She shrieked with pained fury, still clawing at the star.

A light smack of rubber on concrete and Yuffie landed beside him. She propped a hand on her waist and shook her head. She'd obviously been watching him for some time, and Reno became even more frustrated because she never moved like he predicted.

"Jeez," she sighed. "I leave you alone for like, ten minutes..."

But Reno wasn't smiling.

Yuffie glanced from the woman, who was holding her broken nose with one hand while the other lay uselessly on her lap. She pulled a face, grossed out by the sight of her own throwing star stuck in bone. It was hard to feel sorry for a woman who had just had a gun pointed at her lover-type thing though. Rolling her eyes, Yuffie silently applauded herself for heading back towards the redhead's apartment.

She had run out, scared by everything she'd been feeling and stunned by the physical intensity of her attraction to Reno, but had quickly realized he would assume she'd gone after her enemy. She couldn't bear the thought of him telling Tifa, Cloud and the others about her problems – she could handle it herself – and she's spotted him tearing away from his building, so she'd followed to see what he did.

And she was glad she had.

The rage and disgust in the other woman's blue eyes was nearly physical as she turned her gaze to Yuffie.

"Don't let him do this!" she yelled. Yuffie raised a questioning brow and turned to the Turk.

Reno was pulling on a pair of black leather gloves, finger by careful finger. She watched, suddenly feeling over her head, as he picked up the woman's discarded gun.

"Help me!" the lady cried, "this man is a killer! He was the one the dropped the Plate on Sector Seven! He killed thousands! Anything I've done doesn't compare to _that_!"

Oh Gawd, I didn't want to remember...

Yuffie turned to the emotionless redhead and in the sudden silence, she felt like retching. Her insides seethed, shame and disgust and misery swelling inside of her because she had known that, but she hadn't wanted to believe it, so she'd just pushed the knowledge away. It was easier to believe that he was just a bad boy, just a cocky, grinning guy in a blue suit who had done some bad things but was batting for her team now so that could all be forgotten. It was easier to simplify it with lines of black and white, good and bad, and justify her feelings for him by ignoring one side entirely.

She hesitantly raised her eyes to his, taking in the cold rage that now warped his handsome features, the tight lipped snarl twisting his lips as he bared his teeth at the woman by his feet.

"Shut the fuck up!" he snapped coldly, striking the brunette across the face with the length of the gun. "You don't get to judge me, bitch."

She wiped away the blood now dripping from her mouth as well and glared up at the redhead.

"Somebody has to. You're a filthy, cold blooded animal, Turk," she spat his title with such loathing that Reno wanted to hit her again.

"I'd rather be a Turk than a terrorist," he laughed humorlessly.

He couldn't lift his eyes to the kid as numbness crept over him. He had hoped that the darker parts of his life could somehow be kept away from her. He didn't want to remember _that_ part of his life anymore than she would want to hear about it.

He had fooled himself into thinking it wouldn't matter to her, but now it was time to stop pretending and do his job.

The woman glanced back at the ninja, who stood frozen, unsure of what to do.

"I'm not a terrorist! I'm fighting to keep this world free of Rufus Shinra's greed! His deception!"

Reno kicked her in the stomach, hard, the woman coughing noisily from the blow.

"You don't get to talk to her," he said stonily.

Yuffie laughed wetly, suddenly sure that she was going to wake up from this nightmare and everything would fix itself. Gawd, she didn't want to deal with this. She would have rather remained completely oblivious and foolishly falling in love.

"Reno, come on! This isn't you! You're better than this!" she tried weakly.

He looked at her, eyes dead, and in his frozen features Yuffie could see what every person he'd ever killed had seen just before they died. Nothing. Where was the man with the drowsy, languid eyes who had taken her on the kitchen counter less than an hour before? _Where had he gone?_

It frightened her so badly that she took a clumsy step backwards, nearly tripping over her feet, feeling leaden with shock and pain.

His expression broke, and he was all at once wounded and angry and betrayed. She was _scared_ of him. He had never hurt her before and he'd tried so fucking hard to be one of the good guys again, like the Turks had been in the beginning when his job had meant something decent, and she had just _jerked away_ from him like he was inhuman.

Fuck, it hurt.

"No," he said simply, woodenly, as he fired two rounds into the woman's head. Blood and bone and brain splashed spectacularly across the concrete. "I only wish I was."

Staring blankly at the uncensored gore before her, Yuffie released a cry of pain and rage.

They could have turned the woman in to the proper authorities. She wasn't fighting back – they'd already won! They could have tied her up and dumped her into the nearest guard station. They could have walked away. Rufus Shinra had labeled that woman a threat and Reno had killed her without a blink just because he said so.

Every time she killed she felt like she'd lost a piece of herself but Reno had squashed that lady like a bug. She had been a human, not a monster, and killing should never have been that _simple_.

Her eyes filled with scalding tears and her wrist flicked out so quickly he had no time to react. She darted backwards, twisting away into the shadows and ignoring his hiss of pain. She hoped it was agony. She hoped it _killed_ him.

Behind her, Reno grit his teeth and yanked the sharp points of her throwing star from his arm, feeling the blood heat his cold skin as it poured out and rained down onto the pavement. His eyes followed her for as long as they could before she was lost to the night, feeling furious and miserable and empty. He pressed an expert hand to the wound to staunch the blood flow. That was careless of him. Luckily, Tseng made certain that any authorities that could link a Turk to a crime scene quickly found their evidence missing.

"Is it better this way?" a quiet baritone asked.

Reno gave Rude a halfhearted smirk when he moved silently out of the shadows, not bothering to ask how long he'd been there for. Rude pretended not to notice the careful numbness beneath it.

"If I had known that a couple bullets was all it took to scare her off, I would have done it weeks ago," he joked feebly.

"It's hard to find a girl willing to look at your ugly mug for long," Rude replied, knowing that if this was what Reno needed right now, he'd play along.

Reno ran a hand through his hair and discarded the gun, listening to it clatter loudly in the stillness. He had never cared for the damn things anyway.

"Let's go." Rude said simply.

Nodding, the redhead allowed Rude to lead him away, keeping his hand clamped to his wound and telling himself that that was all that was killing him.

* * *

By the time Reno had swallowed enough liquid courage to insist on storming into Seventh Heaven, he was completely, officially plastered.

Several hours earlier, when the oddly morose redhead had successively downed too much rum, gin and whiskey in an alarmingly short amount of time, Rude had called in reinforcements. Elena and Tseng came without question, but were startled to find the usually jovial imbiber with his head on the worn surface of a bar table, arms curled over his hair, while Rude silently watched over him.

"Reno? What happened?" Elena asked gently. She quickly took the seat Tseng held out for her before taking his own.

"Hey Boss man, hey Ditz," he slurred. "Rude said you'd come join my pity party."

Tseng's dark eyes rested thoughtfully on Reno before turning to the pensive Rude.

"What happened to his arm?" he asked.

Elena gasped, immediately reaching for the crudely bandaged arm that was flung onto the table. With surprising agility, Reno snapped upwards and dragged his injured limb away from her seeking fingers.

"S'okay, s'okay," he mumbled. "I want this one."

Tseng continued to look at Rude, but Elena squawked irately. "Don't be an idiot, Reno!"

When she reached for his again, the redhead's hand caught hers painfully, and his crimson rimmed, blurry eyes grew sharp.

"Just leave it, Elena," he said coldly.

The blonde subsided with a confused sigh before leaning back in her chair. Tseng put a comforting hand on her shoulder before meeting his Turk's blue gaze.

"Reno, last I heard, Rude said you had silenced a target without complication. Are you going to tell us how you got injured, or am I going to have to make your partner tell me?"

Glancing momentarily at his dark friend, Reno shrugged. "Doesn't matter. Stupid bitch didn't get it at _all_. Stepping away… Stepping away like I was a monster or something. Just doing my job, only it's a fucking ugly business."

Looking at Rude for elucidation, Tseng shook his head, but Reno continued.

"And, and after I made her coffee! And we laughed and she kissed my cheek and bled on my floor… It was dumb and retarded and shit to expect her to forget… but you can't blame a guy for trying, right? I mean… Playing hero isn't me. Who are we kidding? We-we did thousands in. There's no band aid for that…"

Elena glanced around nervously, but there was nobody close enough to overhear Reno's clumsy speech.

"All we can do is try to atone for the things we've done in the past," Tseng said carefully. "Whether we're successful or not depends on how hard we try."

He wasn't used to seeing Reno unable to hold his liquor and had decided that he would handle the other man carefully. He had seen many a Turk crumble beneath the pressure of far less than the three surrounding him had experienced.

"Tell it to the kid!" Reno snorted, throwing himself hard against the back of his chair, all long legs and limp limbs.

Rude finally spoke up, uncrossing his large arms and placing a reassuring hand on his miserable friends shoulder.

"Yuffie Kisaragi hit him with a throwing star," he explained.

Jerking straight at the sound of the ninja's name, Reno swept a furious arm over the table, sending his empty glasses and Rude's beer shattering to the floor.

"I should have _killed_ her! I _want_ to kill her!"

"Reno," Rude said, "calm down."

"I can't stand this, man," Reno scowled, standing on rubbery legs and completely missing the bartender's angry glare. He ran a hand through his messy hair. "It shouldn't matter this much."

He began to stagger away, and Rude threw a wad of bills on the counter while Tseng and Elena followed him closely.

"… It shouldn't matter at all. But she left all those beads and ribbons and stole my earring. She smells like soap and her boots are dumb and she laughs like a moron and it shouldn't matter…"

They followed his swaying path down several plain streets, around sharp corners and through dense alleys, keeping a cautious eye out for threats. Tseng was the first to realize that Reno's stumbling footsteps were headed unerringly towards Tifa's bar.

"Shouldn't we be trying to stop him?" Elena whispered, having noticed the same thing soon after.

"Want to try?" Tseng asked, mildly amused. The blonde shook her head.

Rude continued to listen attentively to his partner's drunken ranting during their impromptu walk through Edge, slowly piecing together a better picture of the burgeoning relationship between the ninja and the Turk; a relationship that had been rather brutally crushed before his eyes that very night.

Reno fumbled with the door into Seventh Heaven for a clumsy moment, swearing profusely, before shoving it open and stumbling inside.

"It matters!" he shouted to the startled patrons.

Rude threw Tifa, who stood behind the counter with a cloth in one hand and a glass in the other, an apologetic look.

"It fucking matters!" Reno sneered. "I fucking… It matters…"

"What's up guys?" Tifa asked, sweeping gracefully around the counter with concern in her dark eyes.

She looked between the miserably drunk redhead and his sober counterparts curiously.

"We're so sorry, he - " Elena began.

Reno's arm slashed out awkwardly, silencing her. "_Not_ sorry. Where's the ninja bitch?"

Tifa frowned at the insult and crossed her arms. "I haven't seen _Yuffie_," she stressed the name, "for a few hours. She's probably sleeping."

Reno's eyes flared briefly, angrily, and he turned to Tifa. "She tell you how evil I am?"

"She's never said anything about you," the brunette said coolly.

"Oh, that's fucking rich!" he laughed bitterly, and dropped himself into a chair. "Flip side of the coin! My just desserts! Irony and all that shit after I thought that her and me… and even told Rude!"

"Rude? Are you understanding any of this?" Elena asked, getting frustrated by all the nonsense her drunken comrade was spouting.

Tifa sighed and shook her head as she stared at the man now slumped haphazardly in one of her chairs. "Look, just keep him from bullying anyone or getting into anything that isn't water or coffee. I'll go get her. Maybe she can talk some sense into him."

She hurried up the steps, a troubled frown marring her beautiful face, to her younger friend's room. She knocked twice, but there was no answer.

"Yuffie?" she called, gently pushing open the door. "Are you here?"

The only sign that the ninja had ever been in the room at all was the tousled bedspread, a half finished attempt at a beaded bracelet lying on the desk and a wildly colored sock half under the bed. The window was opened, and the cold night air was chilling the room. Tifa was used to the girl's abrupt comings and goings, but still, she usually left a note. The Turk's presence downstairs had her wondering if Yuffie had fled rather than just become bored. Shaking her head, she turned around and headed back to the bar and the four who awaited her.

"She left," Tifa murmured. "Her stuff's gone."

Reno, who had been glaring at the ground, lurched to his feet, a look of helpless fury crossing his sharp features.

"Left?" he scoffed, and took off up the steps, unexpectedly quick. Tifa followed warily, knowing that Marlene and Denzel were safely enclosed in their own rooms but unwilling to let him even anywhere near them in his inebriated anger.

He shoved open Yuffie's door, and Tifa wondered what she'd missed when she saw him staring intensely at the smiley face beads abandoned on the desk.

"Fucking coward," he whispered.

Rude watched him impassively while the other three stared, uncertain.

Without another word, Reno shoved clumsily past the group and down the steps, then out into the cold night. He didn't look back.

* * *


	9. Chapter 8

Embitterment

By: Glass Mermaid

Disclaimer: I own nothing that you recognize.

AN: Complications arise. Also, Cid's language is, of course, rather foul. Be warned.

* * *

Chapter Eight

* * *

_I don't want to regret not having done something later._

- Cid, Final Fantasy VII

* * *

Cid hadn't expected her to be in Rocket Town, but he'd woken up in the morning, fixed himself up a scalding cup of coffee, and stomped outside to The Shera only to find the previously locked door wide open.

"Goddamn ninjas," he sighed, cigarette clenched fiercely between his teeth, and slammed the doorway shut behind him.

"Brat!" he bellowed, and entered the control room to find her – she of the lanky limbs, huge eyes and loud voice - balanced precariously on his steering wheel, arms pin wheeling awkwardly. A battered bag was discarded carelessly on the floor, a few random supplies rolling out of it. A quick survey of what he could see told him that she was here for a week at least.

"Check me out, old man! Am I amazing or what?" Yuffie threw the words over her shoulder, teetering.

"That'd be a lot more impressive if the goddamn steerin' wasn't locked," he muttered, "so get your ass down."

She frowned, pouting, and lightly hopped down. Cid eyed her balefully.

"Where's Shera?" she asked, straining to peer over his shoulder as if she expected the diminutive woman to be hiding there.

"The wife is sleepin' at home," he barked, "and my engine crew is goin' to be here any minute for prep and take off, so unless you want lose your goddamn breakfast, get off my ship."

In reply, she plucked his mug out of his hands and took a huge swig as she backed away. She immediately pulled a face.

"Ugh! What is this, motor oil? Ever heard of sugar, old man?"

"I ain't old, and that's coffee the way it damn well should be. Anyone who acts like that shit is dessert and stuffs it full of whipped cream and sugar is a wimp," he grumbled, stomping past the tiny ninja and snatching his coffee back.

He removed the cigarette from his mouth, absently tapping it against his leather gloves before jamming it back between his lips. Why was the ninja brat here without a word? What shit had she stepped in this time? With an annoyed sigh, he concentrated fully on the control panel. His gloved fingers flew steadily over buttons and levers until the engines began to thrum with life. He smirked and patted the steering wheel lovingly.

"Get a room," Yuffie groaned.

"We'd have this one if you'd fuck off," he replied without looking at her.

"Sorry Cid, but I'm tagging along for this ride."

He turned and glanced warily at her over his shoulder, teeth grinding into the unlit cigarette with a nibble of worry because she'd never been outright willing to fly before.

"Last I heard you were harassin' the poor citizens of Edge. So why are you in Rocket Town instead of back in Wutai, kid?" he asked suspiciously. "You exiled or somethin'?"

She rolled her dark eyes and flounced forward onto his deck. Halting by the huge windows that line the front of the bridge, she turned away so he could not see the anger and misery in her face. Her voice however, was bright.

"Not likely. Can't a girl take a break now and then to go visit her friends?"

Cid continued to glare at her.

"You kill somebody?" he asked bluntly.

"I'm about to!" she screeched, throwing her hands upward as she turned around. "Now lay off! Are you going to get this rust bucket moving or am I going to have to get out and push?"

"Keep up that kind of talk and you can just get the fuck off!" he yelled back.

Watching him for a long moment where he glared back, Yuffie offered her first sincere smile since she'd ran from Edge. It melted into a slow, bittersweet grin, and she flicked back some hair that had fallen over her forehead with a quick shake of her head.

"I missed you, Cid," she laughed fondly.

"Don't go gettin' all teary on me," he grumbled in reply, but the truth was he had missed her to.

* * *

He did not go after her. He was too stupid. He was too proud.

They were the same thing.

He did not go after her.

Instead, he thrust himself into his work, a nearly forgotten ruthlessness seamlessly taking over. He hunted, he fought, he killed, and if Rude grew more and more apprehensive, he didn't bother to notice. Almost every night, he came home speckled with blood and stinking of booze, and if he checked his living room walls for throwing stars, it was his secret alone.

"Take it easy," Rude cautioned.

"You're not yourself," Elena fretted.

"Snap out of it," Tseng ordered.

"Shape up," Rufus warned.

It was easy to shrug off their concern and turn a blind eye to the real problem. He'd been doing that for years.

The numbers in his black book were used and used again, woman flowing in and out of his apartment like water. He wanted to betray her like he felt he'd been betrayed. He wanted to hurt, deceive and alienate. He wanted to give her reasons to hate him that had nothing to do with why she'd run from Edge - from him.

Tonight, it was a blonde he'd met at Seventh Heaven under Tifa's disapproving gaze, taking her home and seducing her without truly seeing her at all. Sluts like this one, he mused as she gasped beneath his hands, wanted to be used. Her name was Leann and she dressed and spoke like a woman without respect; exactly the type he was looking for. She groaned and whimpered and came around his fingers, whimpering with appreciation. Disinterested, he pulled on a rubber and thrust inside of her, closing his eyes as she placed her hands on his shoulders so he could act like she wasn't a person at all.

He shoved her against the wall and she grumbled slightly at his roughness. He took a bit of rude amusement in holding her with only one hand, forcing her to use her legs and arms to keep herself from falling. She complained. He ignored. He closed his eyes tighter, focused on using her body, and the hand that wasn't holding her up lingered over the gouges in his wall. As he climaxed, fingers clawed at the damage so hard that drywall chipped beneath his nail bed. Blood welled, dust fell, and he told himself that it meant nothing.

* * *

A few days later Yuffie was still bumming around Rocket Town without explanation. The passive Shera was happy enough to have her around to wait on, and Cid merely shrugged and let her remain underfoot because he figured she'd tell him what her problem was when and if she damn well felt like it. Besides, so little went on in Rocket Town, a bit of the unexpected now and then couldn't hurt him any. She began to accompany him on his little jaunts around the continents for Reeve despite her motion sickness, but remained tight lipped as to why she had crashed at the pilots place. He didn't complain about her hanging around The Shera, and if he began to look forward to his daily dose of annoyance, he'd be damned before he let her know it.

They stuck together with their usual strange symbiosis, both offering the other something needed but unseen. During the mornings, he let her tag along while he traveled around the town acting as informal mayor, and a couple afternoons were whittled away in his shop as he let the nimble fingered ninja help him make engine repairs or build her own useless creations from spare parts. They spent a few late, leisurely evenings together; Yuffie teaching Cid card games and Cid catching her palming cards, or the both of them wreaking havoc in Shera's tidy kitchen.

But whatever the reason she had run to Rocket Town - to him - remained unsaid.

He got his first clue in the morning, one that found him swaggering down the road, cigarette clenched between his teeth and mug fisted in his large hand, a curious Yuffie scampering beside him. It was brisk out so he wore his old aviator coat and a pair of faded jeans over scuffed boots, and his goggles sat over his spiky hair. Beside him, the ninja wore her purple tank top and yellow shorts, one of Shera's long coats sagging over her thin frame and her canvas boots peeking out from beneath it.

"Give me your coffee," she sniveled pitifully.

"You hate this shit if it ain't got sugar," he said, raising a brow.

"I don't want to drink it," she moaned, "I just want to hold it for warmth!"

He eyed her skeptically. "I don't trust you. You'll just drop it."

Jaw dropping, Yuffie gave the man a quick, teasing kick to the shin.

"I can't believe you just said that! You totally trust me!" she yelled.

Running his fingers over the raspy stubble of his jaw contemplatively, Cid shrugged.

"No, I can't say I trust materia thievin' ninjas who spend a lot of their time taggin' along after depressed, broodin' vampires all that much."

"You _so_ know that Vincent is not a vampire and I haven't seen him for months, and I said I was sorry forever and ever and ever ago! Or is your brain going in the final years, old man?" she taunted.

"I'm thirty-six, and you're just a kid," he grumbled.

"Funny, that's almost exactly what Re- " she stopped sharply.

Turning to look at the small girl, Cid saw her eyes were stunned, sad and distant; a look that was completely foreign to her. He stopped beside her and tried to catch her gaze. After a moment she seemed to come back to herself and smiled half-heartedly at the pilot.

"Sorry," she said simply.

"You all right, brat?" he asked awkwardly.

She took a deep breath, shrugging, before shooting him a wily glance.

"I'd be a lot better if you'd let me hold your mug," she wheedled.

Deciding it was easier to ignore the abject sadness that still lingered in her smile than try to open whatever ungodly can of worms she was hiding, he shoved her the mug and continued down the road, waving to a younger man who ran one of the shops.

"Get your shipment, Haven?" he called, stopping.

"Sure did," he replied as he approached them, smiling at Yuffie. "And who is this?"

Gesturing halfheartedly at the ninja, Cid grunted. "This shiverin' bundle of uptight sticks is Yuffie Kisaragi. She'll be stayin' with us for a bit."

"Of Avalanche?" Haven asked, grinning widely. Yuffie nudged Cid sharply with her hip.

"This bundle of uptight sticks," she sniffed, "is way too cool to be standing around jabbering with you, old man!"

Cid grinned. "Took your mind off the damn cold for a minute though, didn't it?"

Glaring at the pilot, Yuffie hugged the mug of coffee close to her chest.

"Nice to meet you, Yuffie," the shopkeeper said. "And have a nice stay in Rocket Town."

Offering Haven a smile, the girl thumbed her nose at the blonde and began stomping further up the street. Watching her walk away, Cid gave a throaty laugh.

"She don't even know where the hell she's goin'," he sighed, and hurried to catch up.

* * *

Cloud strode across the room in a chorus of clinking metal and creaking leather, stopping near the counter in front of Tifa. The dark haired woman looked up at him with a warm grin, which he returned with his own slight smile.

"What's with him?" he murmured by way of greeting, tossing his head to indicate the source of his question.

Looking behind him, Tifa's eyes darkened with concern. Legs outstretched, arm slung over the back of his chair and head bowed so far he could be mistaken for sleeping, was Reno. He'd been coming in day after day, sitting for hours and getting more and more drunk as each passed. She wanted to cut him off soon, but knew he'd just go find himself another bar to continue in, and despite her efforts, her nurturing instincts extended even to him.

"Oh, you know," she shrugged, "girl problems."

Cloud slanted a disinterested look Reno's way. "Oh."

"I know what you're thinking," Tifa sighed, taking a soft cloth and wiping away a ring of liquid a careless patron had left behind. "He never takes anything seriously."

He hadn't been thinking anything remotely like that.

It dawned on him that Tifa was speaking more from her own worries and thoughts than any of his own, and Cloud nodded slowly, his eyes following the now vigorous movements of Tifa's cloth over the counter.

"I guess," he shrugged.

"But it seems different this time. Just look at him! Poor guy."

She shook her head sadly.

"Oh," Cloud replied, glancing behind him once more at the Turk. He had his suspicions, but he wanted her to confirm them. "We know the girl?"

Tifa stiffened slightly, a gesture not lost on the blonde, and he focused on her more intently. Subterfuge was not her style, and she folded, than refolded the cloth while she avoided looking at him. He merely watched her, waiting.

"Yea we do," she said.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Who is it?" Cloud asked calmly, insistently.

Tifa shrugged again, tossing the cloth aside.

"Is that really important?" she cajoled, trying for nonchalance.

"It's getting to be," he replied.

"Okay, okay," Tifa pouted, glancing up at him between dark lashes. "Three guesses?"

"Tifa," he warned and the woman gave in.

"It's Yuffie."

"Yuffie," he murmured, voice tinged with frustration.

Tifa smiled uncertainly. "The one and only."

Cloud still wasn't clear on why the redhead behind him looked so lifeless. He had expected the broken heart to be Yuffie's by the time Reno got through with her. What had happened?

"Reno… He has a thing for her?"

"Yep," she said.

"I knew it was a bad idea," he grimaced, unsure.

"For which one of them?" Tifa laughed quietly.

Cloud looked over his shoulder at the older man. "For Yuffie. He isn't really…"

"Cloud," Tifa scoffed, "I don't even know if it matters anymore. Exhibit A, the thoroughly depressed, excessively drinking redhead. Exhibit B, one conspicuously absent ninja."

Blue eyes met brown intently. "She took off again?"

Tifa nodded. "Like a chocobo with its tail feathers lit on fire."

"Know why?"

"No," she sighed, irritated, "you could ask him though."

Cloud shook his head. "No thanks."

"You sure Strife?" Reno's slurred voice wobbled up from behind him. "You seem awful curious."

Falling heavily against the bar, Reno shoved his glass towards Tifa, who took it without comment. Running his hand heavily though his messy hair, he offered Cloud a completely humorless smile.

"Not likely," the swordsmen replied.

"Doesn't matter anyway," Reno spat sourly, sipping at the fresh glass of obviously watered down whiskey Tifa had placed before him. "The kid left."

"She must have had a reason," Tifa prodded gently.

"Ask her," Reno hissed.

The woman smiled sadly, shoulders lifting briefly. "She won't let me."

The Turk stiffened, pausing and holding himself unsteadily for what seemed like a long, deliberate moment. He shifted his eyes downward, staring hard at the shining bar counter, before lifting them with the bleary effort of the very drunk, back to Tifa.

"You talked to her?" he asked calmly – too calmly.

Tifa's eyes fell to the pale hand holding the whiskey glass, taking note of the whitened knuckles fisted around it. She had no idea, but his thoughts were very dark, and very angry, wishing that the girl with the laughing eyes and cocky grin were here so he could hurt her and harm her and _hurt her again._

"I've left a few messages on her PHS," Tifa said soothing, "and Cid called and let me know where she is."

A cruel smile drew the corner of Reno's mouth up.

"She's in trouble, you know," he scorned. "Big fucking trouble. Assassins and politics and shit. Wants to take on the world. Told her not too. Told her she'd end up in a shallow grave somewhere."

"Reno," Cloud said coldly, "Yuffie is in trouble?"

"Yep."

Tifa's eyes filled with uncertainty, her soft heart swelling with worry for her young friend. From all she'd seen – Sephiroth, Bahamut, Deepground - Yuffie could take care of herself, but that didn't mean she should _have_ to.

"Why didn't she tell us?" she asked the unsteady redhead.

He focused hard on her, that spiteful smile still distorting his face. "Because little ninjas with big goddamn mouths think they can handle them. Doesn't think things through and when she gets too deep… sees the water isn't so clear… it's got _teeth_, so she panics and makes for shore."

He laughed bitterly, as if he'd just told some grand joke, and Cloud's eyes narrowed.

"Careful, Reno," he said.

The other man's hazy blue eyes met the blondes, and he wavered on his feet.

"You can't have all the girls," he snickered. "I bet that I know that tiny little ninja better than you both. I bet I know _every inch_ of her…"

Cloud stared at him expressionlessly. "You're drunk."

Swinging back theatrically, nearly losing his footing in the process, Reno pretended to bow and salute the swordsmen.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he crowed, "the King of the Obvious!"

Tifa looked on sadly, but Cloud felt none of the same emotion.

"Are you trying to start a fight?" he asked quietly.

Reno sighed, staggered, recovered, and ran a hand through his hair. "Possibly. Probably," he mumbled. "Fuck, I don't care."

"I don't fight drunks or cowards," Cloud said blandly. Reno cocked a brow, slowly realizing that the other man was referring to the fact that he was moping around the bar instead of chasing after the ninja. How typically _heroic_ of him; assuming he knew the whole story.

"You think I care what you think?" he queried scornfully.

Tifa removed the now empty glass from the counter, thankful that he didn't ask for any more. "We'd like to help," she said gently.

Reno shrugged again, wishing he could flip the beautiful bartender the bird or something for the gentle pity he read in her eyes. _She_ wouldn't look at him like some wounded doe. If anything, _she'd_ spit in his face and kick him in the shin for being such an obnoxious drunk.

On the other hand, Lockhart would never run away from whatever bizarre twisted thing had been between them, no matter how ugly it got. She'd stuck around Strife through hell and high water; it wasn't likely she'd bolt from a bit of blood that suddenly proved her knight in shining armor was actually a grade A henchman.

Not that I ever, ever tried to hide that from the little brat.

Reno realized he'd been silent for far too long, sorting through the muddled thoughts in his alcohol soaked brain, and that Strife and Lockhart were watching him.

"Is she…" he stopped, lurching to his left. Okay? Heartbroken? Safe? Scared?

He didn't want to ask. He didn't want to know. His thoughts were scattering and he was having trouble focusing.

_Stupid little ninja bitch I want you to hurt like this goddamn it why the fuck does it hurt so much why can't I get you out of my head stupid clumsy girl I never even wanted to know you how come you had to leave ribbons and beads and I can still hear you giggling like an idiot I can still see you smiling I can still feel the scratches down my back and your legs wrapped around me and it hurts it hurt it hurts…_

"Reno!"

He could hear Tifa's voice call his name but he couldn't find her as his world tilted violently. The floor, on the other hand, was rushing up to greet him like an old friend.

_BitchcowardbratkidYuffieI'lljusttellmyselfIhateyoumorethananythingandIbetifIliehardenoughitmightcometrue…_

Reno had finally succumbed to the alcohol he'd tossed back, falling into the blissful oblivion of unconsciousness. Not a moment too soon, either. Had he been conscious, he wouldn't have borne the indignity of being caught in Cloud Strife's capable arms as he fell with any grace whatsoever.

* * *

Many, many thanks for all your kind reviews.


	10. Chapter 9

Embitterment

By: Glass Mermaid

Disclaimer: I own nothing that you recognize.

AN: T**his IS a RenoxYuffie, but a dash of Cid/Yuffie never hurt anybody, so please read on. **Also, I adore writing Cid, and I hope I captured a bit of him. If nothing else, his way of speaking is a blast to write.

* * *

Chapter Nine

* * *

The pilot had decided to try and teach the impatient ninja how to cook a couple of the decent meals from his bachelor days after seeing her abysmal attempt at making scrambled eggs, and in return she challenged him to drink the viciously fruity beverage concoctions she mixed and he tried to choke them back while she laughed.

Tonight, tuna casserole was on the menu, and Cid was yanking ingredients out of his refrigerator and passing them to the girl behind him.

"Don't even think about juggling those eggs," he muttered, and behind him Yuffie caught the midair eggs guiltily.

Placing the offending orbs on the counter, the ninja took the cheese that Cid tossed blindly behind him, followed swiftly by an onion and a bag of frozen peas.

"I hate peas!" she whined, trying to hand them back.

"Shut your yap, they're good for you," he retorted, unfolding his body from its crouched position in the fridge and reaching up into a cupboard for a few cans and a package of egg noodles. Yuffie wandered over to the counter where their ingredients were accumulated.

"You know I've got like, a hundred servants in Wutai, right?" she asked idly, building a tower out of the cans of mushroom soup and tuna. "I'm probably never going to have to cook."

Shrugging, the blonde thumped a can opener onto the counter. "Don't count your chickens and all that shit, brat," he snorted.

"I've got plenty of chickens too," Yuffie snickered.

Muttering something about spoiled royalty, Cid opened the cans.

"You want to make this casserole or not?" he grumbled.

A smile on her face, Yuffie leaned on the counter and wiggled her eyebrows at the pilot.

"I've got something super secret special planned for you tonight," she sang.

He ignored the mild suggestiveness of her statement and eyed her cautiously. "Yea?"

"Yep!" she grinned, "you're probably going to explode into a shower of glitter and pink confetti, this drinks so sweet. I thought it up while I was in the shower. I do my best thinking when I'm soapy."

"You tryin' to make me picture you naked, you skinny little twerp?" Cid glared, irritated because he wasn't immune to the fact that she was attractive, and trying to keep the mental image of her wet and covered in frothy soap was harder than he'd like. "Because I don't want to go blind just yet."

Yuffie made a face and chucked the onion at him. "Ew! No! Besides," she lifted her nose haughtily. "if you saw me naked, you'd probably have a heart attack I'm so tremendously hot."

Cid eyed her skeptically for a moment as he began to grate some cheese. She was right about being very good-looking, but he wasn't about to stroke her already inflated ego more.

"I've seen better," he ribbed.

Insulted, Yuffie put her hands on her hips and glared at him. "So have I but I'm totally too polite to mention it!"

Trying to hide his smirk, he dumped the chopped onion into the casserole dish.

"Get your ass over to the stove and boil the water. You can do that much, right?" he challenged.

Yuffie's eyes narrowed and she stomped over to the stove where a pot of water already waited. She twisted the heat up to maximum.

"I don't even think the totally amazing drink I've thought up could make _you_ any sweeter," she grumbled.

"Better that way," Cid replied easily, "I'm good and bitter like my coffee."

"More like gross and stinky like old cheese," she pouted, and he chuckled.

He passed her the package of noodles and continued hunting for the suspiciously absent peas. Glancing at Yuffie distrustfully, he checked the freezer again.

"Okay brat, where the hell are they?" he frowned.

Yuffie kept her eyes on the curling tendrils of steam that had begun to spiral out of the heating water. She shifted nervously from foot to foot beneath his blue stare.

"Where are what?" she asked innocently.

Stepping close to the ninja, Cid crossed his arms and waited. She tried unsuccessfully to hide the grin curling the corners of her mouth, and scratched her socked foot against her calf.

"You couldn't fool a two year old, brat. Give me the damn peas."

Giving an exaggerated whine of displeasure, Yuffie dragged herself over to a cupboard and opened the door. Pulling herself onto the countertop, she riffled through it as Cid stood behind her trying to avoid looking at the length of her thighs. She tugged out the bag of vegetables and hopped down, sullenly shoving them into his hands.

"How in the hell…?" he asked, glancing from the girl back to the cupboard.

Once more all grins, Yuffie shrugged mischievously. "I'll tell you if you don't put the peas in the casserole."

"No dice," he replied, amused.

Tearing open the bag, he chucked in a good handful of the tiny green veggies before twisting the package up and putting it back in the freezer. Yuffie wandered over to the now rapidly bubbling pot and dumped in the noodles. Giving them a good stir and a pinch of salt like he'd told her, she waited impatiently. The look she threw to Cid warned him against saying anything about watched pots, and so he leaned against his counter and withdrew a cigarette from the pack in his pocket. Flicking a match against his jeans, it flared to life and he lit the stick of nicotine.

"Why do you smoke those?" she asked quietly. The sad softness in her tone caught at him. "They suck."

Studying her intently, Cid inhaled again. He couldn't see her face, her dark hair shielding it from him, but he knew that she was no longer thinking of him or his bad practices. Judging from the protective hunch in her shoulders, she was a million miles away.

"Just a shitty habit I started and I never broke," he offered. "Why you askin'?"

Yuffie turned to him, the darkness behind her eyes vanishing.

"Curiosity," she smiled impishly, "Just a habit I started and I never broke."

Scoffing, Cid tossed her the colander. "Do your goddamn job," he said and pointed to the noodles.

* * *

Reno woke up with the unfortunately familiar taste of bile and stomach acid in his mouth. His head was throbbing like it was attempting to escape his neck, and he was damn sure that if he had a gun right than, he'd either turn it on himself or whatever godforsaken menace had just screeched with laughter outside the room.

Opening his puffy eyes, he sat up carefully and looked around him, taking in his half familiar surroundings with the expert air of a practiced drunkard. After hundreds of nights like the one he vaguely recalled just experiencing, one became adept at assessing the situation upon rising and then getting out of it as fast as possible.

He was still wearing his suit, but his shoes were gone. Thankfully, the fabric was still clean; no blood or vomit, and though he ached when he moved, it seemed to be from the unfamiliar bed rather than any bruises or broken bones. A check of his pockets showed they'd been emptied, but a quick glance at the nightstand showed his keys, PHS, wallet, EMR, sunglasses and the tangled bundle of multicolored ribbons and beads he'd been keeping on him.

Gathering his things, leery of his heaving stomach, Reno tried to figure out where he was. It was a small bedroom, with little aside from a desk, the bed and the nightstand.

The guest room at Seventh Heaven. Yuffie's room.

Ridiculously childish drawing littered the walls, and as he prowled around the room, the familiar faces of AVALANCHE, scribbled by a childish hand, caught his eye. He peered close to one piece of art, seeing what was supposed to be Vincent Valentine's red-cloaked figure waving a bright orange hand at him while he merrily pointed a gun with the other.

"Nice," he chuckled, raspy voice loud in the quiet.

So he was in Seventh Heaven, and the reason why this room seemed so familiar was because it was where Yuffie had stayed when she was in Edge. The beads were still scattered over the desk, but he kept his eyes away from them.

Just below Valentine's caricature was a picture of the ninja brat herself, her lanky stick figure standing triumphantly on top of a severely squashed Bahamut, a gigantic shuriken in her hand and a huge grin on her face. It sent a familiar ache spiraling through his chest, a touch of warm fondness following it, when he saw that instead of Marlene or Denzel's looping name, it was signed with a smiley face and the letters Y and K.

"Moron," he sighed, chest aching as he straightened upward.

He pushed open the door and made his way though the dim hall and down a staircase. He could hear the two kids squabbling loudly behind him from some unseen room, and grimaced, touching his temple. Continuing into the unfortunately bright bar, a quick glance showed him that while it was blessedly short one bartender, the delivery boy remained.

He halted, sore and uncertain as to what had happened before he'd passed out. Cloud merely glanced at him once, and then moved behind the counter, pouring him a cup of hot coffee.

"Here," he said curtly, shoving it towards him.

Throwing himself onto one of the barstools, Reno pulled the mug into his hands and took

a scalding swig. It made him feel much more human and he smirked, studying the blonde in front of him.

"You make a lovely bar maid, Strife," he said.

"You don't make a lovely anything," was Cloud's muttered reply.

"Ouch, hey," he laughed weakly, "ease up."

Cloud's watched him steadily for a moment, his gloved hands pressed hard against the countertop. Reno hoped he wasn't about to get some overprotective speech about staying away from the ninja. It would be pretty redundant now anyway, he thought sourly.

"Last night you said that Yuffie was in trouble."

Reno winced, wondering what other secrets he'd blabbed about. That was generally why he drank alone. There was less chance of him opening his big trap.

Cloud was still watching him evenly. "Is she?"

Reno shifted uncomfortable, and swallowed, his throat dry. He took another gulp of coffee.

"Yea," he frowned, "she is."

"Assassins?" Cloud asked.

"Or something like them," he replied.

"Political?" the blonde prompted.

"Seems like," Reno shrugged.

Cloud's eyes flickered with something that might have been concern, or hurt before shuttering completely. "Why didn't she come to us?"

"You'd know better than anyone what it's like to keep your issues to yourself," he scoffed.

Glancing away, Cloud nodded slowly. He didn't seem insulted. Reno took the opportunity to drink more coffee.

"Tifa's on the phone with her right now," the swordsmen offered brusquely, keeping his eyes focused on something the other man could only guess at.

Reno's smirk was forced, he felt sliced apart inside. "So?"

"So," Cloud said, turning his eyes back to the redhead, "if we find out where she is, we'll let you know."

Putting his cup down, Reno stood and shrugged, telling himself that it didn't matter anymore because she'd _left_ him. "I've got to go see the boss. Thanks for the jolt."

He swaggered to the door. Cloud didn't stop him.

* * *

"Yuffie? Is that you?"

Tifa's anxious voice drifted through the line and Yuffie held Cid's PHS tightly to her ear as if she could somehow get closer to her friend.

"The one and only!" she said brightly. She missed Tifa already.

Pushing away the sore guilt that was still aching inside of her, Yuffie shoved a smile into her voice and threw her legs over the side of the cushy, battered armchair she was currently ensconced within. Cid glared at her, and she glanced momentarily at Shera only to see that other woman totally engrossed in a novel. She stuck her tongue out at Cid in retaliation.

"How is everything?" she chirped to the barmaid, who was, unbeknownst to Yuffie, listening desperately for some indication that the girl needed help.

"We're good. We're great," Tifa said carefully. "You're a hard girl to get a hold of."

Yuffie grinned. "What can I say? I'm a busy, busy bee!"

"Too busy to say goodbye?" Tifa asked gently.

The ninja's smile fell, shame coursing through her.

"I'm really sorry Tifa."

"I know," the older woman replied. "Will you tell me what's going on?"

"What do you mean?" Yuffie frowned.

There was a lapse of silence, and Tifa seemed unsure of her words.

"Reno," she said, and Yuffie's heart jerked painfully, her breath leaving her in a whoosh. She wanted to hang up the PHS. She wanted to tell Tifa not to say anything else. She wanted to hear every word. The brunette continued. "He's been in here almost every night."

She swallowed. It hurt.

"So? The guys a total booze hound!" she rasped, mouth dry.

"No, Yuffie, it's more than that."

"So?" the girl replied, giggling uncomfortably, "what does that have to do with me?"

"Nothing, I guess," Tifa said softly, feeling so much sympathy for the little ninja that her own chest ached.

Another silence, this one filled with unspoken pain.

"Is he okay?" Yuffie asked finally, voice small.

Tifa could only be honest. "No. I know he drinks, but… this is different. Every night he staggers in looking terrible, and either passes out drunk until Rude comes to get him, or he leaves with some random woman and shows up the next night like clockwork…"

Feeling as if she'd been sucker punched, Yuffie drew her legs back from over the arms of the chair and curled as tightly as she could against herself. Tears stung her eyes, and her face burned. She felt sick inside, but what had she expected? It wasn't like they were committed or anything.

"He's drinking to forget, Yuffie," Tifa murmured. "He's doing it to forget _you_."

"Don't," she moaned. "Tifa, please don't say anything else. I don't want to hear this."

Cid was looking at her from across the room, eyes narrowed.

Tifa paused, hesitant. "Why did you run away from him?"

Yuffie wiped messily at her tears with the palm of her free hand, trying to hide them from the two who shared the room with her.

"You wouldn't get it," she said, choking on a sob. "You're in love with the _hero_!"

Tifa stayed quiet as Yuffie continued, voice cracking.

"But he's, you know, _wrecked_ inside," she laughed wetly, crying openly, "he's not who I wanted him to be and I'm so scared that I might be wrecked too!"

A shadow blocked out the soft warm lamplight, and looking upward helplessly, Yuffie saw Cid staring down at her. Without a word, he took the phone from her and brought it to his own ear.

"She'll call you back, Tifa," he growled, and hung up.

Yuffie just looked at him, eyes swimming with tears that spilled over her cheeks, her lips trembling. She opened her mouth to speak, closed it again when no words came forth. The pilot cursed.

Shera had slipped quietly away, and wasn't there to see Cid kneel, and clumsily gather the weeping girl in his arms, no questions asked.

* * *

"How long is Yuffie going to be staying with us?"

Cid glanced up from his newspaper to where Shera was quietly folding laundry. The dim light of the bedroom lamp shined off her glasses, and he was mildly irritated when he realized that he couldn't see her eyes.

"Don't know," he frowned. "Why?"

"I was just wondering," the brunette sighed.

"The brat's been pullin' her weight," he said carefully, "and she's kept out of your way."

Work roughened hands continued unceasingly to fold clothing. "I never said anything to the contrary," she murmured.

Tossing aside his paper, Cid dragged his feet down from the bed and settled them on the floor. He hated it when she got this way. Why couldn't she just come out and say what her problem was?

"You want her gone?" he snapped.

"Of course not," she replied soothingly. "She's your friend."

Rubbing his eyes tiredly, Cid scowled. "Than what the fuck is this all about?"

"Nothing," she said softly.

"Shera," he warned, pained, "don't do this to me. Just come out and say what you damn well mean."

Her hands stilled on one of his beat up t-shirts. She finally looked at him, her brown eyes pensive.

"Since she's been here, we haven't…" she blushed, uncomfortable, "and I thought we were going to try for…"

"Dammit!" he groaned angrily. "Shera, I told you I don't want kids yet."

Mutely, she resumed her folding. Watching her, Cid became more and more annoyed. Shoving himself to his feet, he snagged his coat from the chair he'd earlier discarded it on and left the room. Behind him, Shera bowed her head and sighed sadly.

* * *

Yuffie found him an hour later in his workshop, sitting at his battered drawing table with a bottle of whiskey beside him and his head in his hands. She stood for a moment, hip propped against the doorway, before swaggering inside, letting the door close quietly behind her.

"Hey now," she smiled, "that's no way to drink. Where is the loud music? The laughter? The strippers?"

"Not now, brat," the blonde muttered.

Taking a seat opposite him, Yuffie snagged the glass half filled with amber liquid and sniffed it experimentally. It burned her nose a bit, but smelled surprisingly good, and taking a deep breath she swallowed a mouthful.

"Gawd!" she coughed, eyes watering. "People drink this willingly?"

Taking the glass, Cid downed the remaining alcohol left in it and than held it in his hands, still refusing to look at the girl before him. Unperturbed, she withdrew the battered chair opposite him and threw herself into it. It creaked uneasily, unused to such abuse.

"I was worried that you'd locked yourself in the bathroom or something, so I came looking," she explained, unasked, throwing her booted feet onto the table. "You know, because you're so old and all."

"I don't feel like talkin'," he muttered.

"And yet, I'm compelled to make you," she hummed thoughtfully, tapping a slender finger to her chin.

She began to pluck at the laces near her knees, watching him easily. He returned the stare, already slightly inebriated, before giving a resigned shrug and slamming his glass on the table.

"What'll it take to get you out of here?" he sighed.

"Either tell me what's up," she coaxed, "or you hand over that pretty little Ultima materia you've got stashed in the Venus Gospel."

Cid chuckled briefly and shot her an assessing look. "No fuckin' way, brat."

Yuffie shrugged, dragging her feet back down to the floor. "I didn't think so, but you can't blame a girl for trying."

For a long while the two sat in silence, Cid losing himself to his sullen thoughts and Yuffie, never one for quiet, finding her mood sinking to match his. It was so hard to keep smiling, but being with her gruff friend helped ease a loneliness unlike any she'd never felt before.

Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Reno's cocky grin, heard his sneaky laughter, and smelled his clean aftershave. She felt his hands on her waist, his mouth on her lips, the bite on her shoulder ached… Every time she closed her eyes, she wondered if he taking home a blonde, a brunette, or a redhead. Every time she closed her eyes, a gun fired and blood streaked over dirty pavement, and she found herself shrinking away from his frozen blue eyes and the ghosts behind them.

Would it ever stop hurting-aching-killing so much?

Miserably, the young ninja nibbled on her lips and drew her legs up onto the edge of her chair. She wondered if it was maybe time for her to move on out of Rocket Town. Sitting in the stillness, unwelcome strands of red hair flickering through her thoughts, made her realize that the small city wasn't enough of a distraction anymore.

"Brat," Cid's voice broke the hush, whiskey rough and rumbling. "I've often wondered, and you can smack me upside the head for askin' you, but did you and Vincent ever…?"

He trailed off, and Yuffie stared at him for a moment, blankly, before realizing what he had implied. She grinned broadly. Of course he'd think of Vincent. He probably remembered her crush on him from the AVALANCHE days.

"Did Vincent and I ever make kissy faces at each other and play naked coffin wrestling?"

She laughed at the grimace that crossed Cid's face, realizing distantly that his eyes had the same strange green mako gleam surrounding his irises as Cloud and Reno did. She sobered, the smile sliding off her lips. She dragged her thoughts away from the Turk again.

"Me and Vince? No. For a while, during the whole Deepground thing I wondered a bit, and we all knew I had a huge gushy crush on him when we fought Sephiroth. You know, all bleeding heart and weepy poetry and _why oh why won't you admire my knobby knees and let me slobber all over your pale and austere features Vincent_ _Valentine?_"

"What happened?" Cid dared to ask, frowning.

Yuffie giggled, a touch of self-deprecation gilding the lighthearted sound with sorrow.

"I kind of switched gears when I got to Edge, and who knows how he felt with Shelke hanging around getting older," she said furtively. "Even the best laid plans and all that."

He looked at her uncomprehendingly, preferring the forthright manner. Yuffie rolled her eyes.

"What I mean, Highwind, is that I met somebody who made me realize that a life of silence and brooding and prying my guy off a block of crystal didn't seem so romantic after all and I forgot about my little crush!" she clarified.

Leaning back in his chair, he brushed his hand over the rough stubble on his jaw and stared at her hard. He'd wondered if she was on the run from Valentine and a broken heart, his frustrated curiosity growing each day she kept her secrets. It was a weight off his shoulders to know that the fickle relationships between his friends remained intact, but judging from her broken phone conversation with Tifa, the brat had still gotten burned pretty badly.

So, who _had_ broken her heart?

If things had been all sunshine and roses with her in Edge, she wouldn't be hanging around Rocket Town, would she? She's said that she was scared. She said that he was wrecked. He wanted to know what happened, but knew it was none of his damn business.

"Ah," he said instead.

"Who knew relationships were so stupid?" she whispered unhappily, and even though he had never prided himself on being a very intuitive man, Cid knew that trying to smile was killing her.

"So what's _your_ deal, Cid? Why are you out here sulking so much that even my amazingly uplifting presence can't save you instead of enjoying marital bliss with the little wife?"

His life wasn't all hearts and candy either. Glancing dejectedly at the door, Cid rested his elbows on his knees and slouched forward as if he were trying to shield away his problems.

"Don't matter," he muttered.

Yuffie snorted, coming around to his side of the worktable and seating herself squarely on top of a blueprint modification for The Shera with a smooth jump. She playfully nudged his elbow with the toe of her boot, jostling his defeated slouch. He jerked upright, uneasy with her nearness, especially after she'd gotten all teary the other night. He'd never been good with weepy women.

"Try again, old man," she prodded, "I've just spilled most of my beans and now I've got nothing but time."

Glaring at her, Cid snuck a cigarette out of his pocket and lit up. He'd be damned before he let her know how screwed up his own life seemed to be. The nicotine took the edge off his nerves and he looked up at her, taking in her cocky smile as she uncrossed and crossed her long legs.

She'd annoy him to death if he didn't just give in. Her thirst for secrets was legendary.

"Ain't too interestin' brat. Shera and I are just on the outs about a few things right now."

"Oh," she said, looking uncertain. "Am I overstaying my welcome?"

"Of course not," he snapped. "The world doesn't revolve around you."

"Whoa! Fine! Just making sure. Don't bite my head off, Cid," she frowned.

Running his hand over the back of his neck, he heaved a long sigh and took another drag of his smoke.

"Do you think I'd make a good father?" he asked haltingly, staring hard at his hands.

"As long as you don't take a page from Godo's parenting manual," Yuffie scoffed. "Why? Does Shera want to make little cussing blonde bundles with you?"

He nodded. She let out a low whistle.

"That's definitely one step AVALANCHE hasn't really made it to yet. Marlene _so_ doesn't count. Barrett kind of cheated there, and Denzel doesn't count either. They're like, store bought, not homemade."

Cid glanced at her skeptically through the haze of smoke. "You finished yammerin' like a fool yet?"

She pretended to zip her lips shut.

"Look," he began haltingly; "this doesn't leave the shop, right?"

At her affirmative nod, he continued, glancing once more at the door.

"I just don't feel like I'm done with my wanderin' days yet. If I have a kid to look after, it means no more travelin' and no more flyin' till the kid is older. I just don't think I'm ready to give it all up. And with Shera naggin' me all the time about it, I'm gettin' to feel more and more trapped."

Cid sighed. Yuffie nodded understandingly. She knew what it was like to be chained down to the future. She knew what it was like to want to drop it all and dash off as fast as possible.

"We make a pair, don't we?" she laughed absently. "Both of us trying to run…"

Blue eyes lifted to hers, sharp with curiosity. "What are you runnin' from?"

She met his eyes squarely, intrigued and alarmed by the intensity of his gaze.

"Blue eyes and bloodstains," she breathed, evasive, smiling sadly.

She seemed so very broken in that moment, her face young, her eyes ancient, her lips telling secrets that her tongue wouldn't share, and Cid knew that he had never seen her look more adult or more alluring. He watched her, feeling like he'd missed a step somewhere and he was headed for a bad fall.

Yuffie remained mysterious and hidden, lost within her secrets as she unfurled the lean length of her body and slid off the table, turning away from him.

He focused on the curl of her spine, a safe enough place to rest his eyes.

She glanced back over her shoulder, heading towards the door. There was no coquette in her stride, no flirt in her hips, and he was grateful. He wondered if he was biting off more than he could chew trying to help her out.

"You in trouble, brat?" he asked as she opened the door, wishing he could keep her there, glad she was leaving.

_Are you trouble, brat?_ he asked inwardly.

"Nothing I can't handle," she replied, shrugging, miserable, aching inside, and was gone.

* * *

Reviews are always welcome, read, and warmly appreciated.

* * *


	11. Chapter 10

Embitterment

By: Glass Mermaid

Disclaimer: I own nothing that you recognize.

AN: RenoxYuffie for the win!

Also, this story is completed already. I will be posting chapters weekly, so that I can double check them all and make sure everything is correct. On with the show!

* * *

Chapter Ten

* * *

Cid allowed her to use the scraps and spare parts that he either had in abundance or knew he'd never need, keeping tabs on her sticky fingers and their penchant for pilfering some of his more useful parts. The first time he let her play around, she simply jammed together several bits of scrap and called it art. It had taken a day or two of her begging and pleading before he let her back into the parts bin and he was curious to see what she'd come up with because she'd yelled at him every time he'd tried to take a look over her shoulder.

"You just about done, brat?" he asked around a cigarette. "I need you packed and ready for the trip to Junon by early mornin' and knowin' you, you haven't got shit done yet."

"Patience old man!" she retorted, "Or are you worried you might keel over on me before you get to see this masterpiece?"

"At the rate you're goin,'" he muttered sourly.

More time passed, the ninja singing merrily to herself and the ring of metal clashing together occasionally meeting his ears. He had stopped fiddling with a spare alternator long ago in favor of a relaxing smoke and listening to her enthusiastic activity. He sat with his legs outstretched and his arms crossed limply, aware that he had work to do but content to put it off a bit longer.

"Prepare to be amazed!" she crowed, and held up a ridiculous hunk of jammed together scrap.

Cid looked it over.

"What is it?" he asked, unimpressed.

"What isn't it?" she replied gleefully, skipping over to where he sat, the scent of flowery soap drifting softly off of the warmth of her body. "I call it the Raginator 5000 and it's just about the greatest thing ever built."

Setting it on the table, she proceeded to flick one of the parts, making it swing into another. It tapped repeatedly, and she squealed with excitement.

"It's somethin' alright," he agreed dubiously, staring at it.

She shoved his shoulder hard and he grunted. "C'mon! I know its totally useless and stuff but I _made_ it and it _does_ something!"

He stood, clapping her on the shoulder as he passed and carefully ignoring the softness of her bare skin. "That's right, brat. Good job. Now, I got to work on finding that damn faulty spark plug so we'll be set for tomorrow."

Grabbing his tool belt off the table, he wrapped it snugly around his lean waist and strode over to his tool cabinet. He threw open the doors and began shoving wrenches, screw drivers and other gadgets into the pockets, cursing occasionally when he saw some of them missing. He settled his hands on the top shelf and hung his head tiredly.

"Brat," he called, "bring back the shit you were usin' before I– "

The girl in question abruptly silenced him by darting underneath his arm and popping up in front of him, so close that he felt a shock of awareness pass through his body. Disturbingly quick, she slid all the tools she'd been tinkering with back to their appropriate spots and turned triumphantly to face him.

Tilting her head upwards to meet his eyes, the smile drifted slowly off of her face as she became conscious of the fact that his arms were settled intimately above each of her shoulders. The scent of engine grease and warm leather was drifting from his clothing like cologne, and she could see the fine golden stubble peppering his strong jaw. He was staring at her, cerulean eyes just as startled as her own must have been, and when he shifted his weight to his other leg, her breasts brushed lightly against his chest.

She gasped sharply and his eyes turned a darker shade of blue before they both broke away from each other.

Yuffie crossed her arms over her sensitized chest, face crimson, and Cid ran an agitated hand through his hair.

"Make sure you put them all back where they belong, brat!" he muttered, and grabbing onto the reprieve like a lifeline, Yuffie pivoted on her heels and stuck her hands on her hips.

"Look for yourself, geezer! I bet you I put those tools away better than you ever have in your entire life!"

Keeping his eyes away from her and tamping down the desire still spinning confusingly through him, Cid waved her off.

"I'll be lucky if I ever find my goddamn stuff again now that you're _through_ with it!" he barked.

Yuffie followed him as he shoved open the door and went outside, heading towards The Shera.

"I could so totally beat you at everything ever!" she cried flippantly. "An old guy like you is lucky he can even find his way into the house after dark!"

Veering off towards the aforementioned house, Yuffie waved jumpily to the blonde and stuck out her tongue.

"In fact," she trilled, "I bet you don't even know how to fix that engine thingy! I bet you're just going to start hitting it with a hammer until one of your other crew guys takes pity on you and fixes it himself!"

Whatever he might have replied to her lame insult was lost as she, still laughing nervously, slammed the door behind her. Shaking his head and swearing, Cid hurried over to The Shera, where he quickly lost himself in the repairs; the repairs that he knew damn well how to fix. He stubbornly refused to admit that anything strange at all had happened in the shop, but hours later, lying in the dark beside a silent Shera, he found sleep hard to find.

Down the hall in the guest room, a bewildered, miserable Yuffie clutched a silver earring so tightly in her palm that the stud punctured the skin, the pillow quietly drinking the trickle of blood that mingled with the salt of her tears.

* * *

He sat with Rude in a little café in the nicer part of Edge, sipping halfheartedly at a decent cup of black coffee while his partner did the same. The low conversations and quiet laughter gave the air a peaceful lull, and he tried to quell his boredom by tapping repeatedly against the side of his cup with a spoon. He'd tried to explain what he was going through, as well as his awkward conversation with Cloud.

"I don't even know. It's like, when I was with her I was as normal as I get. I could relax," he snorted.

He wondered if Rude was vaguely hurt by that comment, and he awkwardly shoved a hand through his hair. He fucking sucked at this.

"Rude, man, its different here. I mean, we're tight, but the job is always there to, you know? Of course you know."

Rude looked at him, dark sunglasses obscuring his features. "Reno," he murmured. "I love you."

Bursting out laughing, Reno relaxed, waving his friend off. Rude cracked a small grin.

"Fuck yea, man. Get in line." He sobered, a thoughtful expression settling uncomfortably on his face. "It's like, when Tseng or you look at the ditz. Like you don't know whether to hug her or smack her. It's like that, but in a good way."

Thinking of her now, the feelings fluttered nervously within him. The sore, tender and exasperated affection that had been plaguing him for weeks poisoning his vitals once again.

"Why'd she take off?" Rude asked.

"She didn't like what she saw after all," Reno scoffed. He paused, thinking of the night everything went to hell.

He hadn't done anything differently. It was business as usual taking out that target. But when he first became a Turk, taking lives hadn't been old news. Now, years later, he felt jaded and tired and empty. Fuck, who was he trying to kid? He'd felt empty for years, but for a time, when Yuffie had been there, that emptiness hadn't seemed so bad.

"I don't like what we've become," he said finally.

"It's never mattered before," Rude murmured, "Why is this tearing you up?"

Lifting his pale blue eyes from their lethargic contemplation of the coffee, Reno met the shaded stare. He shifted in his seat, dragging himself up to a better position and dropping his arms onto the table.

"Rude," he began slowly, "It was different when we first started this job, right?"

"Times change," the other replied. "Now, we try to make up for what happened."

"If they're smart, people don't have the shit we've done to make up for," Reno said bitterly.

"Nobody forced you to join the Turks," a new voice returned.

Glancing up, Reno met the tolerant dark eyes of his leader. Gracefully, Tseng took a seat, posture perfect, not a strand of his silky black hair out of place.

"I see you're still acting like a child, Reno," an amused, aristocratic voice said, and Rude quickly stood and pulled the remaining chair out for Rufus.

"Nice to see you to, Boss," Reno snorted.

Leaning back and throwing an arm over the back of his chair, the redhead surveyed the three men surrounding him.

"What's with the sausage fest? Where's the ditz?" he asked.

"Elena is running an errand for me in Junon," Rufus replied easily.

"Tell me Reno," his boss continued, "are you having second thoughts about working for me?"

Reno shrugged, unimpressed, and fiddled with the handle of his coffee mug. "There is nobody in this entire damn world better built for this line of work than me."

"Yet, you continue to act as if the world is ending and you can find the way to save it at the bottom of a bottle of alcohol."

Reno frowned, his fingers stilling.

"Respectfully sir, you've never bitched about my drinking before," he said defensively.

"There is a difference between drinking," Rufus murmured, "and drowning."

"Oh fuck, is this like, an intervention or something?" Reno groaned, looking around the table in disgust.

Tseng raised a brow. "Does it need to be?"

Slapping his palms down, Reno leaned forward and shook his head. "When did you all become head-shrinkers?"

"We're not," Rude said, "we're just concerned."

"Look, I don't… It's just… This is fucked up, talking about this in a coffee shop like we're chatting about the weather!" Reno spat.

Lowering his voice, the red-haired man focused hard on his cup and forced his words to flow.

"We say we're trying to repay this debt to the planet, yet we do the same messed up shit we always do! I'm just trying to figure out where I stand in all this. I've got a lot of debt to repay. I just never… Damn. I never knew it would cost me so _much_."

"You're referring to the girl," Rufus stated blandly. "The AVALANCHE member."

"You know her name, sir," Reno shot across the table coldly.

"Yes," Rufus smiled, "but word is you have a rather violent aversion to hearing it and I thought it best remain unsaid."

"It uh," he glanced around the table, uncertain about releasing the tight hold he tried to keep on his emotions. "Isn't getting any easier."

"Nor will it," Tseng said evenly.

Looking at the dark haired man in disgust, Reno sighed loudly. "You couldn't bullshit me and offer me some lame little motto about time healing all wounds or something?"

Tseng smirked. "I have too much respect for you to do that."

"Fuck," Reno rolled his eyes, "Next you're going to try to make out with me or hold my hand."

"Get in line," Rude intoned, sharing an amused look with Tseng, and Reno warded them off with his hands, eyes wide.

"Leave me out of your kinky life plans!" he snorted.

Chuckling, Rufus waved over the waitress and placed an order for an espresso. Tseng followed suit, and they sat back to wait.

"You're Wutaian, right?" Reno asked quietly, looking sideways at Tseng, who nodded. "Mind telling me what the fuck is wrong with your princess?"

Thinking for a long moment, the leader of the Turks swept the length of his long black hair back over his shoulder, somehow managing to keep the gesture unfeminine.

"Aside from being crass, impolite and insufferably exuberant, there is so much wrong with that particular girl that I don't even know where to begin," he said. "However, I believe that her reaction to the events she witnessed and her subsequent escape had little to do with _you_ and more to do with _her_."

"What?" Reno asked blankly.

"What Tseng is trying to say," Rufus offered, "is that witnessing that blatantly brutal side of your job brought things she had avoided accepting to the forefront of her mind in a very abrupt, violent way. Perhaps she realized she was less tolerant of your lifestyle then she had first anticipated."

"She jumped ship because she tried to forget what being a Turk is all about and seeing you in action scared the shit out of her," Rude interpreted. Reno smiled gratefully at his partner before taking another swig of his drink.

"She knew I was a Turk," he mused.

"No matter what the job, it's one thing to know what somebody does. It's an entirely different thing to witness it," the black haired man explained.

"Oh, and being a ninja is all rainbows and chocobos? Her hands are no cleaner than mine!" Reno hissed, silencing himself when the waitress returned and placed the beverages ordered in front of Tseng and Rufus. The latter offered the girl a polite smile and she scurried off.

"Our princess is," Tseng tried, "a complicated creature. She is young and headstrong, the only heir to a long defeated nation. She never stays in one place for long. One might even say she fears commitment. Perhaps she wasn't _just_ running from what she saw."

"If you're telling me she took off because she was in love with me or something," Reno scoffed, "I'll walk out right now because that's just fucking stupid."

"Only one way to find out," Rude said quietly.

"What? I should chase after her like some lovesick loser?" Reno laughed.

Rufus exchanged another look with Tseng.

"Whatever you do," Tseng said, "we've got your back."

"Cue the violins," Reno snorted, shoving himself out of his chair. He tossed a bit of gil down and offered the other men a smirk.

"You ladies enjoy the rest of your day."

He sauntered out of the coffee shop, looking more like his usual self than he had in weeks. Nodding politely, Rude followed closely behind while the other two watched them go.

"You seemed… rather compassionate to Reno's plight, sir," Tseng said.

Coolly amused blue eyes turned to black ones, and his pale hand swept the long blonde bangs away from his face in an arrogant, elegant gesture.

"Good, loyal help is hard to find, and he has been with us for an admirably long time," Rufus murmured. "It's why I keep him around."

Tseng smirked slightly.

"I thought you kept him around because he's the only one of us who knows how to decently pilot the helicopter."

"Well," Rufus smiled evasively as he brought his cup to his lips. "There _is_ that."

* * *

**My apologies for the shortness of this chapter. The next one is a bit of a doozy, and the chapter break seemed appropriate. I'll probably post the next chapter earlier to make up for the shortness of this one.**

**Thank you for all your reviews! I love to hear from you!**

* * *


	12. Chapter 11

Embitterment

By: Glass Mermaid

Disclaimer: I own nothing that you recognize.

AN: **This chapter is a definite M, but probably my favorite of all of them. **

If you've never cared for the CidxYuffie pairing, go read Enkida's Ain't Like I Planned It. It'll change your outlook. It's wonderful.

* * *

Chapter Eleven

* * *

They had reached a rendezvous point two hours prior in order to pick up a custom part from a weaponsmith several miles outside of Junon. He was an eccentric old man, but he got the job done and he got it done well, so Cid was willing to wait for the delivery boy to come to The Shera rather than hunt him down.

The first hour after landing, Yuffie had spent propped dramatically over a railing trying to convince Cid she was still dreadfully motion sick so he should make her lunch until he went and checked on the crew and the engines. The second hour, Yuffie had gone down and harassed the engineers until Cid chased her away, then she'd hid all the pilfered goods she'd liberated from their pockets in strange places around the ship. Now, entering the third, the pilot stood fine-tuning the helm controls while the thief sat in the sun that poured in through the windows.

Since the night before, he'd had trouble thinking about the brat without feeling awkward. Every day that she'd stayed with him, the fact that she had grown into a woman had been shoved into his face. He'd denied it, than ignored it, but after their mishap in the workshop, he had accepted it with ill grace and had avoided being alone with her at all that night.

He glanced over to where the girl was now, suspicious of her silence, and found her digging deeply into the strap of pouches she kept at her hip. She reverently took out pieces of materia, a few clicking and rolling together, and her contented sigh drew Cid's inquiring eyes upward. Yuffie casually sat aside her belt, and as he watched, lengthened her slim body out on her stomach, basking in her materia and the sun. One slender leg was outstretched completely, while the other was dragged awkwardly upward, her booted foot touching the opposite knee. He swallowed back a curse when he saw that her undignified pose had resulted in her already tiny shorts riding up, up, up, until a bit of the bum he'd been diligently ignoring was peeking out.

Had her legs always been so goddamn long? When had the brat gotten curves?

He wrenched his eyes away from her pert little bottom, higher up her body, finding the creamy skin of her back exposed by her tiny tropical shirt and silly little coat. Watching her shrewdly, he wondered if she was aware of the show she was putting on. Guardedly, he yanked his eyes up to her face only to find her half asleep. Her head was pillowed in her crossed arms, and a tiny, sleepy smile curled lips he had found himself thinking of late into the night before.

"Fuckin' hell," he muttered, and took a huge puff of the cigarette he had nearly forgotten was in his mouth.

Was she doing it on _purpose? _

As if sensing his eyes, her thick lashes fluttered, her eyes opened, and she rolled onto her back, deftly avoiding an orb of materia with a sinuous (and in Cid's opinion, completely unnecessary) wiggle of her hips.

When had she gotten those breasts?

His eyes narrowed angrily, and he ended up destroying the filter of his smoke with his grinding teeth. He spat it onto the floor and pulverized it beneath his heavy heel. She _had _to be doing it on purpose, he thought, staring as she stretched out her impressively flexible body until her shirt climbed her ribs and her back arched off the floor. She settled back down, boneless and sighing with pleasure...

Of all the fucked up little games…

Before he knew what he was doing he was striding over to where the thief was and standing over her with arms akimbo.

"What the fuck are you up to, brat?" he glared.

Yuffie opened her eyes, and damned if she didn't look drowsy and contented and exactly the way he was suddenly imagining she'd look after a good fuck.

"Cid?" she asked curiously, flipping back over onto her stomach and pulling her legs beneath her with a leisurely, feline agility that sent his thoughts skittering elsewhere for a long moment. What had happened to the fumbling, awkward Yuffie he was so comfortable with?

She scrambled upward when she saw the same dark, heated look in his gaze that she'd seen the night before.

_Tell me I'm wrong! Tell me he's just angry! _

"I didn't do it!" she yelped, attempting to bring things back to normal. "That panel thingy was beeping when I got there! I only took _one_ of your cigarettes when you weren't looking and it tasted yucktastic when I tried it so I threw it away! I put your goggles back before you even noticed! I was super careful and I didn't break them! Stop being such a bully!" she ended her tirade of useless confessions when she ran out of breath, her hands fluttering around her as she nervously danced away.

Cid didn't know what to think now that fumbling, awkward Yuffie had returned, so he stormed back to the helm and lit another cigarette. He refused to look at her again as she stared at him, anxious, before she settled back down on the floor and quietly put away her materia.

* * *

The sun eventually lured them outside, and ever wary of fiends, Cid dragged his spear with him, curtly cautioning Yuffie to do the same with her shuriken. He sat in the shade of the ship on an old crate he'd brought out, absently sucking on a smoke and watching the forest line for his delivery. His thoughts however, were not so relaxed, as they tumbled backwards over and over, to pale bared skin, dark velvet eyes and feline stretching.

Having grown tired of materia counting, Yuffie was propped against the airship beside Cid, yanking out handfuls of grass and flowers and piling them together.

"I'm bored," she whined, but was ignored. "So totally, utterly, unbelievably bored."

The blonde beside her grunted, but didn't bother to even look in her direction. She studied him for a moment, taking in the faded blue t-shirt, the dog tags and the battered gloves with a jaundiced eye. He needed a bit more color, she ultimately decided.

Cid was brought abruptly back to reality when a shower of scratchy weeds and flowers was dumped over his head, some of it trickling beneath his collar and down his back. His eyes focused immediately on the skinny girl who now stood in front of him and he jerked to his feet and spit out a blade of grass.

"What the hell is wrong with you, brat?" he snarled.

Yuffie shrugged playfully, pivoted on her heel and sauntered away from him, all shorts and boots and saucy hips. He wondered how such an itty-bitty thing could be so damn aggravating.

She tossed out her slim arms and twirled inanely a few times; before she settled into her customary slouch, one hand on her hip, and tossed a challenging look his way.

"I just thought green would look terrific on you," she shrugged.

"Funny, I always thought you'd look real good in black and blue," he mumbled, off kilter and surly.

She smiled brightly at him, and even though he was coarse and jaded and too damned bitter for his own good… under the sun, in that field, by that girl, he was struck by the moment.

She was a vagrant, as at home in the grass and the flowers as she was in a grungy metropolis; all boneless grace and porcelain skin untouched by anything around her. Her eyes were huge and wide and dark and sparkling and he couldn't seem to swallow quite right as he stared at her. Her black hair shifted gently in the breezes, her bandana followed lazily, and all at once he was blindsided by it, trapped by it, wrecked by it, this portrait of a girl he thought he'd known but had suddenly never seen before.

She was beautiful. When the fuck had _that_ happened?

As if she sensed his strange mood, Yuffie walked forward and peered up at his face. His inward gaze and long silence unnerved her. She wanted to hear him swear and snap and snort at her. Apologetic, she brushed a few strands of grass off his shirt and bounced nervously around him, trying to get them all.

"Cid?" she tried after circling him twice.

He shook his head mutely. The cigarette that had been drooping in his fingers dropped to the ground and he smashed it absently beneath his boot. His remote gaze lifted, focused on her own, and she felt as if she were caught on the edge of a razor, his eyes were so bright and sharp and sapphire. Unnerved, she scampered out of the way, behind him.

"Come on, I said sorry," she wheedled, and wrapped her arms around him from behind in a fierce bear hug.

He stiffened beneath her hands, and hurt and uncertain and determined to _fix this_, she locked her arms tighter around him. She wondered when everything had changed.

"Yuffie," he murmured, and deep in his gravelly tone she heard a warning.

She froze, because he never said her name unless something was very wrong. Beneath her arms, she felt the pull and flex of his heavy muscles as he shifted. She was once again aware of the warmth of his body against her chest and the pleasant scent of smoke and soap and engine grease that drifted from his skin. Her stomach dropped pleasurably and a blush flared up in her cheeks as she remembered the night before.

Cid turned slowly in her embrace, changing the dynamic with the simple motion. Her body was pushed firmly against his, the curves he'd been guiltily thinking about a blinding reality beneath his palms. He rested them low on her hips, feathered his fingers lightly over the skin of her thighs where her shorts ended. He could feel the soft swell of her breasts against his chest, the sharp jut of her hipbones against his stomach. Her legs were pressed tightly to his. He swallowed thickly, and watched her dark eyes become impossibly hot and black when the length of his erection pressed intrusively against her stomach. She breathed deeply, exhaled shakily, her lips trembling trembling trembling, and he was swooping downwards to catch that gasp with his own mouth and -

"You there, Highwind?"

"Fuckin' hell!" he swore, and her arms were gone and she was darting away and he was reaching out to catch her but only grabbed empty air because she was always so _damn_ fast…

"Highwind? Got your delivery!" a cheery voice was coming from the opposite side of the ship, and Cid wished he could pound the owner of that voice into oblivion.

"Just drop it fuckin' down and get the hell out of here!" he barked.

The voice became hesitant, fearful. "I-I need you to sign, sir…"

Running his hand through his hair, Cid closed his eyes and tried to weld the broken pieces of his composure back together as shame and desire swarmed around him.

Shera… Yuffie…

What the hell was happening?

* * *

That night, after several hours where Cid had searched endlessly for her and Yuffie had expertly avoided him despite it being his own damn ship, he found himself staking out her room, hip pouch dropped near his feet, knowing that if nothing else she'd return for her materia. He had to find her. He had to fix whatever he'd busted. It had always been his nature to poke, prod and pry the physical, the mechanical… the emotional made his hands heavy and tied his tongue into awkward knots.

But he was nothing if not stubborn.

The crew had retired for the night, and the silence remained unbroken for a long, long time before Cid heard the creak of the door. A shadow slipped out, silent and furtive, and the door shut quietly behind it.

"Funny, I took you for a thief, a cheat and a sneak," his voice rasped in the darkness, "but never a goddamn coward. Your dad proud of this act?"

She bit her lip and her large eyes searched out his lanky form in the shadow of the airships corridor. There was nothing save the dim blue light of several control panels to illuminate them. He was leaning against the wall opposite her door, arms crossed, head down, spear resting nonchalantly against his shoulder. His posture was more telling than anything he could say; all his exhausted dreams and wasted days creeping forward and bleeding out of the wounds he usually kept hidden beneath bristle and bluster. Wasn't he happy? He had his town to run, WRO flights to make, his docile little wife and his huge ships… Wasn't that what he wanted? The sheer weight of his quiet unhappiness frightened her, and she felt guilty for exposing him, and angry because he _should be stronger than that_. She didn't know this Cid of weary chastisement and tired shame, and wanted the cussing, reckless, loud mouthed pilot back.

"Like I care what he thinks," she scoffed uneasily, and knowing she was in for a lecture or something, discarded her bag on the floor. "Besides, he'd say that I was smart for choosing my battles."

He lifted his head and his narrowed gaze hit her like a slap. He was measuring her and she felt it as his eyes trailed over her body. She wondered how short she would come up next to the gentle, unassuming Shera. She wondered why it stung to know she would when it had never mattered much before today. Did a touch against his chest and a missed kiss with Cid Highwind, of all people, really mean so much after all that had happened in Edge? Her heart contracted painfully at the thought of red hair and wrinkled suits.

Damn him, damn him… It ached and burned and bled so badly to think of Reno and however many new lovers he'd found by now.

"Doin' a piss poor job for a ninja to, damn it. The dead would have heard you leavin'."

Her peevish pride wouldn't accept the blow and in an instant she had slipped into the shadows and disappeared. Cid straightened, swore harshly, and in the next moment she was before him, catching him squarely in the chest with a well placed palm and sending him slamming backwards into the wall. In a second her shuriken was pressed to his neck, her eyes pools of black in the darkness as she stared up at him and he glared down at her. They both twitched uneasily, sorely aware of how close their bodies were. The change was not entirely unwelcome and that was more bewildering than anything else.

"Um, am I a totally awesome ninja or what?" she giggled weakly, slipping away, and immediately the pilot's leg snapped out, catching her behind the knees and sending her sprawling backwards. Frighteningly fast, his spear was pointed directly at her heart and Yuffie's jaw fell open, her eyes narrowed.

"Is that weak point written on my forehead or something? That was dirty," she pouted.

"And attackin' a man from the goddamn dark ain't?" he countered.

She remained unrepentant as he cautiously withdrew his weapon. Yuffie surged upward, once more all awkward gangling limbs and nervous energy. He followed her movements with a cautious, wary gaze, because she had become an unknown opponent and he had never liked being at a disadvantage against a foe.

"Look," she reasoned, "_I_ don't know what happened. _You _don't know what happened. I say I just take a little Kisaragi vacation and we forget the whole thing!"

While she spoke her arms swung wildly around her, shuriken dangerously forgotten as the washed out cerulean glow of the panels winked off the keen edges.

"Watch that fuckin' thing, brat," he growled as he cupped his hand over his lighter and watched his cigarette bloom to life. He inhaled deeply, and then blew wispy smoke into the darkness.

She smiled sheepishly, the innocence of her expression foiled by the weapon still in her hand, and she tossed it down onto her bag. The end of his cigarette burned red and angry in the dark, and she studied the dim outline of his face.

She hadn't tried very hard to sneak away. Had she wanted him to stop her?

She swallowed thickly, suddenly feeling very young and very unsure. She watched the crimson eye of the cigarette move low, now dangling in his loose fingers. She shivered, remembering the feel of those fingers on her thighs and the cold, cruel look in Reno's eyes the night she'd run from Edge. She wished she could erase him from her thoughts. She wished she could hurt him like he had her.

But this was Cid! Much older, much meaner, much more _committed_ Cid! Foul mouthed pilot, and the only member of AVALANCHE that had to be more reckless and stubborn than her!

"You been taggin' around me, always underfoot and screwin' things up. Now, the moment things get a bit tougher, you're just going to goddamn bail?"

If she didn't know better (and of course, she didn't) she would have said that he sounded hurt, the rough grind of his voice edged in frustration and annoyance.

"Gawd! A bit tough is like, the most humongaginormous understatement ever made! That's like saying that Cloud is just a _bit depressed_, Vincent is just a _bit dramatic_ and Sephiroth was just a _bit disturbed_!"

"Well, what the hell do you want me to say, brat?" Cid snapped, and all at once his mouth was running away on him. "I'd be lyin' if I said it was all your doin'. I'd be lyin' if I said I didn't want you. You want me to be a goddamn liar?"

So much for fixing the mess they'd made.

"It would be better for us both if you were," she said with all seriousness, and in the face of her maturity his bark of laughter was startling.

He felt bitter and half crazy, stirred by lust and remorse and excitement. Even the wounded look he imagined Shera would give him before leaving his sorry ass forever was not enough to put the monster within him back to sleep.

"Tough shit, Princess. Always bouncin' around in those tiny shorts and those goddamn boots, grinnin' like a fool and actin' like you own the world... Damn it, you could drive a man berserk."

"Excuse me," she said as primly as she was able to when her body was responding to the desire thrumming low in his rough voice and the _need_ to _forget_, "I never asked you to look."

"And whose eyes were you hopin' to catch, girl," he asked gruffly. He followed her quick, uncertain movement in the gloom; focused on the faint glow of her pale skin.

She winced as her mind darted to lanky limbs, blue eyes, and hair like blood on a drug high.

_Reno, Reno, Reno… _

_You stupid disgusting Turkey! You ruined it all and this is all _your _fault and I hate you so so so much… _

_Oh Gawd, Reno…_

Her heart was pounding, anger and confusion beating a staccato within her even as desire cart wheeled giddily through her veins. Cid was completely different from pretty boy Reno – all thick muscles and hard features - and she knew it was wrong but she wanted to use Cid's hands to rub away the ghost of Reno's fingers digging into her skin, his mouth to take away the throb of Reno's teeth in her shoulder, his voice to overtake the sound of Reno's wild groans that still echoed in her ears.

Reno…

Cid was off limits, he was _taken_, but she was young and dumb and selfish inside and she wanted so badly to take away the sting that the Turk had left her with.

But Shera… Yuffie swallowed, guilt gnawing at her insides.

She could hear Cid stepping towards her, stalking her, and wished that she could hate every man she knew bitterly and completely because none of them were who she'd thought they were. But her legs were shaking and her lips were tingling and she was dying to be touched and if felt like they weren't even a part of the real world in the darkness of the airship. She had always thought Cid was attractive in a rough, brawler kind of way but had it had never been more than a vague kind of awareness.

"Not yours," she hissed fiercely. "Never yours."

"You're a damned liar," he scoffed, dismissing her anger. He was close enough to hear her shaky breathing and the violent desire beneath it. He stepped closer, so close that her body heat warmed his skin.

"I know," she confessed, breathless and ashamed as his hand grazed her thigh.

She dressed for ease of movement and agility, but she had never minded the eyes upon her. It made her feel mature, sexy, and untouchable. Did that make her a bad person? Did that make her a tease? Did that make her even worse? Yuffie's stomach clenched.

One moment she was there, the next she had darted away, as furtive and cagey as a fox. He gave chase with a curse.

She got as far as the bridge before he caught her thin wrist and yanked her backwards. They both knew she could slip away if she truly wanted to; she had him beat for speed and slyness even though he was much stronger. His large hand completely encircled her wrist. Through the glove, his opposite palm burned against her hipbone as he forced her to turn around.

"You ain't runnin' goddamit," he bit out the words.

"Stop me, Highwind," she spat them back.

He cornered her, edging her backwards until her delicate spine pushed into the wall. Her hands reached out and gripped his shoulders; short nails digging, digging, digging. They watched one another warily, old and young and old again, both begging for permission and demanding to be stopped. Then, with one smooth lunge he was kissing her, nicotine and anger and harshness and ugliness and nothing like she knew she wanted but still so _good_. She pushed her head back against cool metal and wished she could at least pretend that he was somebody else as his lips coaxed and coerced, but he was muscle and bones beneath her hot little hands, he was messy cropped hair and stubble beneath her darting fingers. He was furious and miserable and so walled up inside that she could feel the frustration quivering through his every nerve.

Yuffie tore away his goggles and tossed them to the floor where they clattered loudly, because they were symbolic of everything he was and she could not bear that she might want him for more than a night. He was foul-mouthed and impolite and she'd _never_ thought his eyes were nice or his bestial grins were sexy or the way he took control was amazing and damn him he wasn't _Reno_ and that hurt most of all. His teeth grazed over her collarbone and up her neck, and lust dragged through her harshly, not a pooling between her legs but a stabbing.

"Cid, why?" she cried-moaned-begged. Why her? How could he do this to Shera? What was he thinking right now?

"Just shut the fuck up," he muttered in reply, pained and lost and fragmented against her, because he didn't _know_ why he suddenly wanted her, he _knew _he was not the type of man who jumped around on a lady, and the only thing he could think of was how much he wanted to _hate every inch_ of the girl in his arms because she dared to make him see what he was missing. He'd been content and tired and complacent and she'd gone and fucked everything around.

This changed everything and he was a creature of habit. He hated hated hated her.

"I never wanted you… I never… I couldn't…" she drifted off, her hands squeezed his arms and trailed over his body, devouring any sensation she could reach.

"You think I don't know how you're feelin'?" he breathed bitterly, "you think I don't know how much this fucks it all up?"

She whimpered, wrapping her long legs around him as he steadied them against the wall. He was grinding against her, oblivious to everything except the scent of her skin and the silk of her inner thighs as they rode his waist where his shirt had bunched up.

He didn't know how long they were kissing… dizzy, delirious, drugged, on teeth and lips and the desperate whisper of skin on skin.

_Too young for you_, his mind whispered, _too much for you_. But he ignored everything except the breathless resonance of her voice as he had never expected to hear it.

"I want you, I want you, I want you," she gasped, chanting in a low, throbbing whisper.

She was tangled around him, and he was wrapped around her, and he took her mouth against his again and again and again, swallowing her whole and searching for more. The canvas of her boots was rubbing his back raw. His hands were running convulsively over her body; the leather warmed by the contact. Even her considerably toned leg muscles were starting to tire. Neither one tried to stop the disaster between them.

"Please," she sobbed, and he cursed and shoved her legs down. He yanked off his gloves and stuffed them in his pocket, and his engineer fingers were deft and hard as he wrenched down her shorts, scraping her hips with careless nails as he did so. Her thieving hands were silent and speedy as she returned the favor before winding her legs around him once again. He hissed with pain and pleasure as her rough boots returned to sting the raw skin of his waist. He pinned her to the wall and positioned himself.

When he pushed inside of her, the intensity and significance crashed over them both and threatened to drown them beneath it. She opened her eyes, he closed his, both blinded for a moment by sharp pleasure and sharper regret. The dim blue light stunned Yuffie when she realized she could see him so clearly; eyes shut, teeth bared in a feral grimace, short blonde hair damp with sweat as he moved deep within her. His fingers stirred between them, teasing her higher, higher, higher until she began to burn out from within. She had never imagined what his naked hands would feel like on her exposed body and she was glad because her imagination could never compete with _this._

Her eyes dipped closed; a keening whine escaping her throat because the pleasure was so piercing it was almost a torture, before she focused on his face. He was as male and unbeautiful in his passion as he was in every action, but the realization, as he opened his blue blue _blue_ eyes and met hers, that he was Cid Highwind and nobody but, sent her over the edge and she climaxed hard crying out a prayer.

He buried his face in her neck, moving roughly and without restraint inside of her because there was always a chance reality would strike hard and spoil everything. He knew the stubble on his jaw was scratching her badly and he didn't give a damn. Her breath was loud in his ear, harsh and sobbing from her orgasm, and it was driving him insane. He lifted his head and met her soft, dark eyes, reflecting that she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen and he despised himself for seeing it when it was far too late for change. His fingers dug painfully into her hips as he tipped his head back and came intensely, gritting his teeth, her name catching-piercing-choking in his throat.

* * *

Cid tangled his fingers tightly through Yuffie's on the way back to her borrowed room, wordlessly forsaking his because there, Shera was in the sheets between them. He enjoyed the delicious rasp of her smooth palm against his own, reading the ingrained teaching of Wutai in every soft finger and the art of the ninja in every calloused edge. They tumbled onto the hard bedding and melted messily together in a shock of bared skin and delirious words.

They came together again and again, a frenzied stamina he wasn't sure he had even in his younger days filling him again and again. He was sore and desperate and completely overwhelmed, each stroke of his body within her turbulent and distressed. Even now a part of his mind knew that he couldn't hold quicksilver in his hands and she was going to slip, slip, slip away and leave him always dreaming.

But he wasn't a one-night stand man. He was greedy and hotheaded and unthinking and damn it all to Hell and back again but if he was going to have her once he was going to have her _always_.

She had woken him up with her vibrancy, as clumsy and unintentionally damaging as always. He had loved Shera for so long, but when had it become so listless and stale? Had he lost his passion along with his youth, his grand ideas and his ambition? He was only thirty-six but damn it, he was as placid and dull as a man twice that age. When had he stopped chasing dreams and settled into the rut?

He was trapped and scared and he'd never known who to turn to except himself.

He whispered hoarsely in Yuffie's ears when he was above her on the rumpled bed, of what they'd do and how they'd manage and everything he wanted to give her. He devoured her with his eyes when she rode above him, his hands on her hips to control her frantic movements as she cried and cried his name; her body clenching around him, glitter bright and beautiful.

He denied that there were tear tracks on her cheeks.

She was sucking him dry of everything within; the worries, the fears, and the hesitations he never knew he had. It would have been so beautiful if he were hers to empty or if that was all she took... But she was taking the good things to, devouring his hopes and expectations, his dreams and his suddenly brighter future in every furious stroke of their joined bodies because she was as good at breaking things as she was at thieving.

He was her friend and she adored him, admired him, _revered_ him.

_Always,_ her mind wept, _I ruin it all, I ruin it all, I ruin it all…_

_Again_, his mind whispered, _I want it all, I want it all, I want it all… _

They did not break eye contact when she climaxed again, deep and concentrated around his body, and the glow of the room was absorbed by the black of her hair and illuminated her ivory skin until it seemed like she was shimmering. It sparkled through the tears he stubbornly refused to recognize, and her intensity tossed him over the edge with her and the world bled white as he orgasmed. She collapsed against him, all spilled ink hair, aching muscles, sticky skin and heavy breathing.

"Cid," she whimpered, and he swallowed, and settled his hand heavily in her hair.

"S'okay brat," he rasped, and he could feel her shiver as the sweat cooled on their skin.

"I just -" she broke off, a small fist skimming up his ribs and pressing hard against her lips.

"I know, damn it," he comforted blindly, even though he didn't.

He felt limp and heated and hesitant, knowing that this distorted everything in his world. She settled limply against him, her tears dripping messily onto his chest, and the warm metal of his dog tags pressed into her cheek. He murmured quietly about a new future, his voice a rumble against her ear. He would bring her back to Rocket Town. He would make her see that she belonged with him and to him. Shera would just have to understand that he had found what he had lost again - what she had been unable to offer him - because maybe, just maybe, he had been trying to find it in the wrong woman. He didn't want to hurt Shera, he loved the mousy, intelligent little woman, but he couldn't see another way.

"It'll be good, brat, you'll see," he muttered, determined, uneasy. His rubbed her back distractedly and he planted a soft kiss on the top of her head.

His eyes closed though he wanted to keep them open for always, always, always… Feeling her hair pouring against his neck, seeing the skin of her shoulders still gleaming. He fell asleep slow and warm and exhausted, clutching her to him as tightly as he could.

He woke up alone.

Instinctively, he knew she was gone as he opened his tired blue eyes. He had always known she'd be gone, hadn't he? But he'd hoped… He was a fucking fool, but he'd _hoped_ and _dreamed_ and _anticipated_ and for a night he had been so blind and deluded, muttering like an idiot about their sudden future together without asking if she had wanted one at all.

Vagrant, nomad, drifter, traveler, adventurer… oh fuck why hadn't he _seen_?

She was young and reckless and desperate to fly, already caged by heritage and honor and _fuck_ if he hadn't just tried to pin down her wings with nails of his own.

She was scared and confused and heartbroken, running from some other man and damn if he hadn't just tried to railroad her into something she wasn't ready for.

Planting his feet against the floor, Cid dropped his head into his hands and reached a shaky hand out blindly for the smokes that were still crumpled in his pants pocket. He lit one and breathed inward tiredly. He quaked, muscles overtaxed by sex and wearied by sorrow. His throat was sore and tight as he swallowed and rubbed the sleep from his eyes with his free hand.

Where the hell was he supposed to go from here? Did he go home to his poor, sweet wife and spend the good years he had left with the stain of the brat's young body on his hands? Did he listen to Shera's quiet voice with the echo of Yuffie's moaning in his ears? Did he drink his carefully prepared tea, his bitter coffee, his rum and beer and whiskey, with the taste of her vibrancy and youth bittersweet in his mouth?

He didn't want to go home at all. He wanted to run and run and run, never looking back, chasing after her and everything else he'd ever wanted that he'd forgotten about.

She had ruined him. Damn it all to hell but she had ruined him and he had ruined her and who knew they'd ever be the end of one another?

"Yuffie," he groaned aloud, lost and tired and so much older.

She had walked in, broke everything without thinking, and walked out again. It was what she did. It was who she was. How had he forgotten?

He spat out his cigarette and surged to his feet, furious and confused and above all, betrayed, by the slip of a girl he should have had the common sense to slap instead of kiss.

"Fuck, fuck, _fuck_," he bellowed, stood, and threw his heavy fists into everything breakable in the room and even some things that were not.

He tore up the sheets and yelled and cursed and roared at his crew to screw the hell off when they rushed to help their captain.

He stood naked in the middle of the room, knuckles bruised and bloody, and laughed, laughed, laughed, until he was heartsick and hideous.

"Goddamn, doesn't this just beat all," he gasped, frantic tails of laughter still cutting his throat open.

Cid pulled on his familiar, dirty clothes and noticed with a bitter chuckle that his dog tags were gone from his neck. He tugged his leather gloves carefully over every finger in order to dull the ghost of her body against them. He yanked on his boots, laced them viciously and then stood and surveyed the damage he'd done to the room and his life.

He felt flayed alive, skinned and naked and shivering with misery and shame and confusion. It hurt to think of the girl. It killed that he could still smell her on his skin. How could she run? How could she run from _him?_

_I'll strangle the little fool,_ he vowed. _When I fuckin' find her again I'll wrap my fists around her skinny little neck and I'll throttle her till she sees what a mess she's made of me. _

He stormed from the battered room and locked it just as it was with a rarely used key.

"Get this fucking thing movin'," he hollered to the first unfortunate crewmember that crossed his path.

_Stupid old fool, stupid old fool, stupid old fool_, his mind jeered. How could it hurt so damn bad when it had only been one night?

They took off within the hour, and he knew that he had dragged it out because he'd been hoping - damnitmotherfuckerholyhell but he had been hoping – she would saunter through the hatch and grin at him, cocky and arrogant, and announce that they couldn't forget her.

She did not.

* * *

But on the outskirts of Junon, Yuffie was wiping young and sloppy tears from her face and cursing herself because she was running again and she was dumb, dumb, _dumb_…

She was drained, exhausted, defeated; slipping along the edge of the trails so she wouldn't be seen. Cid wouldn't come after her, she knew that, but considering all the other mistakes she'd been making she decided to be careful. She wondered if she'd ever see him again… and if she did, if she'd be able to look him in the eye without dying.

Shame coursed through her, and anger, knowing that maybe, if she hadn't run away from her problems to begin with, she'd still be able to count the dragoon as a friend and an honest man. She blamed herself but she blamed him too, because he had a perfect life and a perfect wife and he shouldn't have _wanted_ to throw it all away for her. Why couldn't things have stayed simple and easy and stupid?

She wished that she could rewind time, and he'd keep yelling at her, she'd keep teasing him, and they'd both go back to Rocket Town happy. She wished that she didn't know what the pale blonde hair on his chest felt like beneath her palms. She wished she didn't know how soft and bright a blue his eyes became when he was within her. She wished that she didn't know how gentle and earnest his husky voice could be when he spoke of dreams.

The thick and cold mist that clung to her skin was slowly burning away with the morning sun, and she began to see more and more people as she approached the harbor town. Stifling a yawn, she decided that she needed to find an inn and wash away the scent of sex and sin that clung to her body.

_Cid,_ her mind railed and wept and whispered, _we both should have been stronger_.

Her little fingers tangled in the silver chain at her throat, tags clinking, clinking, clinking against her breasts, and as she entered the busy city and slid quietly into the morning crowd, her thoughts were filled with blue eyes, cigarette smoke, rough hands, red hair, jagged tattoos, and a hundred worthless regrets.

* * *


	13. Chapter 12

Embitterment

By: Glass Mermaid

Disclaimer: I own nothing that you recognize.

AN: This chapter is something of a reprieve from all the drama. It's short, but I'm satisfied with it.

Oh, and wow! Thank you so much for your reviews. I read them all and I am so grateful that you take the time to let me know you're thoughts and feelings about the chapters.

* * *

Chapter Twelve

* * *

It wasn't very often that he got be completely, utterly alone, and peering into the night sky and watching the starlight sparkle over the water, Reno finally figured out why.

He was _bad_ at it.

Loneliness got him thinking, pondering, all deep thoughts and introspection, and he was pretty piss poor with _those_ things too. Bringing his hand to his lips, inhaling from the smoke pinched between his fingers and letting it drop to his side again, he debated over whether or not he should join the stale Costa del Sol nightlife behind him or continue to stand uncomfortably in the cold wind listening to the nagging voices in his head.

_Shit,_ he sighed, dropping his smoke into the sand and kicking a heap over it, _better not._

He was trying to find a ninja, after all, and last he'd heard from Reeve and Valentine's spotty tracking, the girl had passed through this town, heading towards the coast by the look of it. She'd abandoned Cid Highwind back near Junon and the pilot had gone back to Rocket Town. He shifted slightly, furious thoughts filtering through the hazy, relaxed numbness he'd allowed to spread through him. The way the two had been glued together for weeks, he had no doubt they were fucking. There was no way anyone could take that much Kisaragi company and not go berserk unless they were getting _something_.

Himself excepted, of course. He'd lost his mind way before she tripped into his life.

It appeared that she had a thing for older men, he thought derisively. It didn't bother him _that_ much that she might be sleeping with the dragoon, though Highwind's wife probably wouldn't be so understanding if she knew. Casual sex he could accept, especially since he'd tried to loose her memories in booze and sweaty skin and was no more innocent.

He was an asshole, but not a hypocrite.

What he couldn't deal with was the thought that she might have shifted her focus from him to the other man. That she might no longer be running from him, because he had no more hold over her.

So he had to decide. Did he continue hunting her down, betting on nothing but the fickle heart of a girl ten years his junior and his own jaded feelings, or did he fold his cards and head back to Edge? He was pretty sure that if he ran into the two of them all over one another, he'd have his EMR out faster than he could say Turk. Actually, fuck that. He'd just whip out his gun and start _firing_. Bullets had gotten him into this shitty mess, maybe they could get him out of it too.

Scoffing at his wayward thoughts, Reno jammed his hands into his coat pockets and scanned the horizon as it lightened with the oncoming sun. Distantly, he could see a few of the fishing boats speckling the sea, their fingernail hulls white against the water and their spiny masts skeletal against the gloom. He stood, tipping forward slightly into the cold and listening to the ghost howl of the wind, aware of the fact that the only color in the predawn world surrounding him was that of his own scarlet hair.

He thought again of how terrible he was alone, and a jumble of comparisons between himself, Yuffie and the disaster between them tumbled untidily through his mind and made him wonder if it was better that he be anyway. He couldn't help but chuckle, bittersweet and scornful as he watched the sun spill out over the water, because he never thought love would be so cruel, and so confusing and above all so goddamn _dramatic_.

"So what do you say, kid?" he muttered to the skyline, and lit another smoke.

* * *

Cid had never liked sunrises overly much, ever since traveling with Cloud. The sun coming up meant another day of sweat and dirt and aching muscles, of blood and bandages and lonely roads. He preferred noon, when the whole day was spread out before you and the hopelessness of nighttime and the burden of morning were kept at bay. But he was finding sleep hard to find since that night near Junon, and had been leaving Shera's side earlier and earlier to come to his airship and stand in front of his grand old steering wheel waiting for day to break, catching more and more sunrises in his eyes than he wanted to bear.

Copper, peach, gold, butter, fuchsia, rose, violet, lavender and cool and endless blue. He cataloged his admittedly limited vocabulary of colors and searched his brain for more as he watched hues seep into the sky. Eventually Shera wandered silently out to his side, handed him a mug of coffee, and left again. They were strangers to one another some days, barely exchanging words the next. She knew something had gone horribly wrong with Yuffie but couldn't stand to listen. He was swallowed by guilt and longing but couldn't stand to speak.

So he spent his mornings much like this one, pensive and morbid and horribly weary, likening himself to Vincent and figuring he understood the broody man much better than he had before. He almost felt like apologizing to him. Chuckling, Cid rubbed his hand through his hair and leaned against the steering wheel, watching the sky transform, wondering where she was.

"Damn brat," he sighed, "don't break what you never meant to fix."

* * *

Yuffie wandered the streets of early morning Nibelheim as the sun began to warm the buildings and people risked emerging from their comfortable little homes. She'd been moving for a few days now, hiding in the plain sight of the trails and roadways to lick her wounds as she traveled. She was feeling a bit more like her old self, and was ready to run some more. She was heading towards Wutai, gravitating slowly towards the comfort her homelands offered and the wisdom her father could give while avoiding everyone else.

She had tossed her phone off the small boat she'd taken from the Junon harbor to Costa del Sol despite the consequences, knowing that if nobody else would have the guts to chastise her, Vincent would.

Every morning she woke up in tents or trees or inns feeling lonely and a little downtrodden, and when guilty thoughts of Cid made her eyes sting, she turned her mind away. Every night she went to sleep uncertain and afraid, and when painful dreams of Reno woke her up choking back sobs, she turned her face into the pillow of her arm.

She missed him. She missed his stupid red hair and his smirk and his silly tattoos and his crappy apartment and his skinny hands. She missed his eyes. She missed his walk. She missed his sneer. She missed his _bones_.

Heck, she missed his Rude.

But she was getting pretty good at running by now, and knew the only way you could truly go was forward to the finish line. Anybody turning back to the start just ended up looking like a fool.

So she carefully wound her way through the solemn streets of Nibelheim, intending to gather supplies and head east towards the smaller coast villages the next day. She was going to hitch a ride. She was going to Wutai.

"Come find me if you want me, Turkey," she muttered tiredly. "I can only run so slow."

* * *

My apologies to anyone who read this chapter before I caught a mistake. It should have been 'sunrises' rather than 'sunsets'. All has been corrected now!

* * *


	14. Chapter 13

Embitterment

By: Glass Mermaid

Disclaimer: I own nothing that you recognize.

AN: Whew! Winding up here! Only a few more chapters to go!

Happy Mother's Day everyone!

* * *

Chapter Thirteen

* * *

A shrill peal of a PHS, fumbling, and the muttered curse of a disgruntled awoken rippled the early morning hush before it settled once again over the inn room.

"Reno?" a smooth, patrician voice grated against the redhead's senses, and he suppressed a snort of disgust.

_Nobody _should sound like they just stepped out of some fruity little wine and cheese party at seven in the goddamn morning.

"… the fuck you want Rufus, uh, sir?" he groaned, tugging himself upwards and resting his head in his palm.

He'd stayed up way until the sun rose and then crashed. He couldn't honestly be expected to function on two hours of sleep. Reno tried to convince himself that Rufus would completely understand if he hung up on him.

"I have some news," the blonde said carefully, and belatedly Reno caught the seriousness in his voice.

He tried to become more alert, his eyes narrowing as he focused. It was stupidly hard when he was so damn exhausted.

"Hit me," he said lazily.

Rufus sighed, pausing for a moment in such a way that had Reno's muscles tensing.

"We received a call this morning from Reeve about Wutai," he said.

Reno's blood froze, his already pale face whitening as thoughts of Yuffie broken and bloodied somewhere in the world appeared in his mind's eye. He'd seen enough of murder and violence to paint himself lurid, gruesome imagery, and swallowed hard to keep back the bile.

"Yea?" he rasped.

"Yes," Rufus continued calmly. "It seems as though the assassination attempts on Godo were finally successful. Nobody has been able to find Yuffie as of this morning, so word has not reached her. Vincent Valentine has continued bribing the Innkeepers to contact him if anyone with her description is spotted, but she continues to keep out of sight."

"Fuck," Reno sighed, relieved and regretful as the fear eased away from his stomach, "this is going to mess her up."

"Tseng was successful enough in finding out who was behind it, but it seems as though it is too little too late," Rufus shrugged.

Reno snorted. "Maybe, maybe not. We've still got to help _her_, right? Give me everything you've got on those goddamn fucks."

"Since you asked so nicely," Rufus drawled, and proceeded to tell Reno all the information they'd gathered about a darker side of political Wutai.

It took way too long, in the Turk's opinion.

"We done?" Reno said shortly when Rufus finally drew to a halt in his summary.

"I suppose," the other man sniffed. "I had something further planned, but if you're not interested…"

"Oh?" Reno sniggered, impatient but amused.

He scrabbled for his pants, yanking them on with one hand as the other held the PHS to his ear.

"I'm sending Rude out with the helicopter. Take it. It's a temporary loan."

Reno cocked a brow though Rufus couldn't see him, halting with his arm half through his sleeve.

"What's in it for you?" he asked warily.

Smirking on the other end of the line, Rufus released an exaggerated sigh. "After all we've been though together you still don't trust me?"

"I trust you about as much as I do myself," Reno snorted, buttoning his shirt.

"And well you do to remember that," he sighed. "Rude is leaving as we speak. I'm nothing if not efficient with my time."

There was a pause.

"…and Reno?"

Rolling his eyes as he checked the clip of his gun, Reno urged him to continue with a grunt.

"Try not to break my helicopter. They _are_ rather expensive," he finished.

Reno hung up.

* * *

In desperate need of a bath, Yuffie shuffled into the Nibelheim Inn and practically slumped onto the counter where the innkeeper awaited his customers.

"Help you, miss?" he asked politely.

"Oh gawd yes," she whined. "I smell_ so_ _bad_."

He reared back slightly, attempting to remain unaffected as well as out of her unpleasant odor range. "Uh, a room with bathing facilities?"

"Please!" she moaned, shoving gil over the counter without bothering to count it.

He nodded, carefully extracting the fee for a night and no more, before pushing it back towards her.

"Name?" he inquired, fingers poised to type.

"Yuffie Kisaragi," she muttered, glancing around to make sure nobody else heard her. "Spell it however you want. I'm too tired to care."

The innkeeper straightened, inhaling sharply. This was the girl! The one from AVALANCHE that that terrifying man in the red cloak was hunting for! He fumbled for the phone, shoving it hastily across the desk toward the girl who eyed him suspiciously.

"Please!" he stammered, awed that another one of the people who had saved the world _twice_ was standing before him. He was a bit star struck, though he'd never imagined they could be so _dirty_ looking. "A man was here, Vincent Valentine! He told me it was extremely urgent that if I saw you, I insisted that you call him without delay!"

The innkeeper sank back slightly, recalling the crimson eyes and deathly pale face of the looming figure. He glanced back at the no longer slouching girl, seeing her frozen features. He didn't want to contemplate how badly things might go if she refused him though, and so he pushed the phone towards her again.

"He said it was an emergency," he pleaded.

Feeling sick but resigned, Yuffie lifted the receiver to her ear and dialed the familiar PHS number. It only rang once before Vincent's somber voice greeted her.

"What is it?"

"Vincent?" she said uncertainly, "What's up, Tall, Dark and Gloomy?"

"Yuffie, where are you?" he said sharply, concern touching his husky voice in a way she had rarely ever heard.

"Uh, Nibelheim," she replied uneasily.

What was going on?

"Yuffie, you must listen carefully," he said soberly, and Yuffie's wary instincts sharpened painfully at the tone of it.

"Give it to me straight, doc," she jested weakly.

A pause.

"Your father has been murdered," he said stonily. "Word has not yet reached the continent. It was in the early hours of the morning. I am sorry."

_Godo? Dad?_

Yuffie's tears were sharp and hot, spilling from eyes that saw nothing before her. Respectfully, the Innkeeper moved quietly away. Her stomach was hurting, so badly. Why was it hurting there? She would have thought her chest – her heart – would have been the source of such pain, but all she could feel was her stomach. Her stupid, _stupid_, icy cold, heaving stomach. She felt numb everywhere else, and distantly, she glanced down to assure herself that her legs were still beneath her. She could hear Vincent talking, his usually coldly comforting voice nothing but a grating in her ear as he told her the hard details of what he knew.

He had nothing else to offer her.

"Vincent?" she whispered, and he fell silent immediately.

"Yes, Yuffie?" he asked.

"I'm sorry I just took off on everyone," she breathed absently.

"Nobody is angry with you," he replied.

Her voice was blank, wooden. "I meant from the WRO. From Reeve. From you. I'm sorry."

"Do not worry about such things now," he ordered, worried for the tiny ninja and the distress he'd had to bring to her.

"I don't really feel like talking right now, Vincent. I'm tired. I want to go to sleep," she rasped.

"Yuffie," he said calmly, "you are in shock. We're sending somebody out there. Reeve organized it all this morning. Go to your room. Rest."

"Yea," she whispered numbly. "I will."

She clumsily hung up the phone and the Innkeeper handed her a key, telling her the room number. Yuffie nodded, forcing her wobbly legs to move forward and snatching up her pack with frozen fingers. It was cold. She was so, so cold.

Opening the door and locking it behind her, she wandered aimlessly across the room until she found the bathroom door. Avoiding her eyes in the mirror, she unwrapped the complimentary toothbrush and paste, and brushed until her gums were bleeding before turning around.

The shower was a little stall, and she turned the taps on, shoving her hand beneath the water until the heat soaked into the numbness. Dropping her dirty clothes to the floor one by one, she slunk inside and shut the door, curling herself up into the corner against the cold tiles she did not feel.

As the heat of the water thawed the numbness of shock from her mind and brought feeling back to her limbs, the tears came hard and swift and endless.

She mourned for her father for not being young enough, strong enough, to fend off such an attempt. She mourned for her people for losing their leader.

She cursed herself for not being there. She cursed Godo for losing that last fight.

She grieved for the loss of her father. She grieved for the loss of her freedom.

Finally, Yuffie twisted off the taps and staggered out to the bed, burrowing herself beneath the covers without bothering to towel off. Her hair and skin soaked the sheets, the blankets, and she shivered alone.

On the heels of her grief came fury, scalding and freezing her from inside. The same men who had attacked her had done this. The same cursed house had sent the one who had taken Godo's life. The deceitful, power hungry, murderous traitors had forged a formidable debt when they spilled the blood of a Kisaragi. For nothing. They had killed an old man who had lived only for them, for nothing but greed and stale values.

And if she had to burn down every ancient house in Wutai, slaughter every noble family she knew, she would reclaim the stolen blood of her family and take her place on the throne as Godo's daughter.

She had no choice. She had _no_ choice.

She sobbed, shivered and swore herself to sleep.

* * *

Several hours later, after sleeping the sleep of the soul wounded and world weary, she dragged herself from its murky depth. It was mid afternoon and the sun was an ancient, faded yellow that spilled through the windows and stung her scratchy eyes. Yuffie pulled herself upright and hugged her knees beneath the covers. It was a testament to both her exhaustion and his stealth that she startled when he spoke.

"I've been looking for you, kid."

She gasped, glancing wildly towards the sound. She spotted his lanky form on the bed beside her own and felt her heart nearly give. He was watching her, elbows resting comfortably on his knees, the glaze of sunlight melting into his hair and turning to a burning shade of orange. His eyes were narrowed slightly against the brightness, his mouth a sad, straight line. She blinked at him, not sure if she was still sleeping.

"Reno," she said quietly, and it hurt so_ bad_ to say his name.

"Yea," he replied huskily, because it hurt so bad to hear her say it.

"Reeve, Rufus… They sent you?" she whispered.

He watched her carefully.

"I've been tailing you for over a week. When we found out where you were, they called me. Godo… It was some family called Kawa. They hired the guys that got your dad."

Yuffie bit her lip, holding tighter to her knees and keenly aware of the bared skin of her back where the bedding fell away.

House Kawa, The River of Wutai. One of the ancient houses, steeped in tradition and the old ways. She wasn't surprised. She wondered if her father had known. She wondered if she was the only reason he'd been killed, or just a step on the progress to power.

"I was a coward," she murmured, risking another glance at him. "I should have been protecting him instead of running around whining about responsibility and heartbreak."

"We all got to run sometimes," he shrugged.

"It wasn't my right," she insisted in the same, quiet, unnerving tone so foreign to her.

Reno didn't know what she wanted him to say, and he fidgeted absently with his half filled pack of cigarettes, pinching the cellophane between his fingers and listening to the delicate crackling fill the silence.

It had been stupidly easy to pick the lock on the door, the inn still holding a foolish naivety when it came to the less scrupulous denizens of society despite the abuse it had suffered in previous years. He had expected to be met with either a physical attack or tears, but there was only her small, silent form beneath the covers.

Seeing her so close, vulnerable and bare in miserable sleep had been brutally difficult for him. He'd been unprepared. He wanted to scream at her, hold her and slap her all at once.

She'd been breathing evenly, black hair a tangled briar patch around her cheeks, lashes so stark against her flushed, tear burned skin that they looked like streaks of black paint. So many emotions that he didn't know how to deal with had flooded through him when he saw her after weeks of waiting, and so he had sat down on the opposite bed and stared at the floor until he heard her stirring.

And now she just shifted, deadened and lost on the bed as time kept marching between them.

His eyes followed her as she stepped sluggishly from the bed, naked and uncaring, rummaging through her pack until she withdrew a relatively clean bundle of clothes. He said nothing as she put on her underwear or shimmied into her little shorts. He stayed silent when she wrestled her shirt over her head and slipped her arms into the black vest. It was only when she expertly twisted her bandana around her head that she spoke.

"You know," she whispered, "you'd think that because of who I am and what I do, I'd be immune to stuff like assassinations, murders…"

"There's a difference between the shit I do and stuff you learned," he shrugged.

Her shoulders stiffened. "Yea."

She glanced at him over her shoulder, her fingers toying with the pocket of her shorts.

"The people who did this… killed Godo… They're just like you, right? They kill strangers, wreck lives, because somebody else told them to. Because somebody _paid_ them to."

Her shoulder's fell momentarily, her voice thickened. "You'll just keep doing it, over and over until you're cut down first."

Reno didn't bother denying it, merely watched her, sensing the misplaced fury thickening the air with tension. She hung her head low, black hair sheathing her features as thoughts raced madly through her head. She wanted to ask him a hundred questions about how he could do the horrible things he did but miserable anger choked her voice. She sensed him stand, tensing as his sharp instincts warned him of danger.

_Good,_ Yuffie laughed inside, tears filling her eyes. _Bleed like me._

Reno swore as she spun on the balls of her feet, the assault he'd dreaded since the beginning finally arriving as her temper snapped. He felt sick within, knowing that she had every right and no right at all to take her grief out on him.

He'd come here _for _her. He'd come here to help her.

Teeth bared and tears falling, Yuffie lashed out wildly with every weapon she could reach on her body. She whipped several deadly throwing stars at the redhead, who dodged most of them with the honed skill of a man who spent much of his life cheating death.

He lunged for her, one blade nicking his forearm and slitting neatly through his jacket and the muscle beneath as if they were butter. If it hadn't hurt so much, hadn't _infuriated _him so badly, he might have admired her speed. The second cut his ear, slicing viciously through cartilage and several strands of scarlet hair. The blood flew, scalding his neck with its heat and dripping over his hand as enraged, he grabbed her by her rapidly moving wrists and twisted them brutally. It was only her grief that made it so easy to take her down.

She cried out with fury and pain, dropping the stars in her hand. Reno wrenched her around, crossing her slim arms over her body and using them to restrain her tightly against him. Immobilized she went limp, gasping wildly. Unwilling to trust her, the Turk kept his hold painfully tense, his jaw pressed against her cheek. Both of them focused on the wall in front of them, and Reno felt his ear bleeding heavily into her hair.

_Fuck_, he thought sharply, _those things sting like a bitch._

"If you so much as fucking _move _those legs of yours an _inch_, I will dislocate both of your arms, and than break them in so many places you will _never_ throw one of those _goddamn_ things _again_," he warned spitefully, tightening his hold to show her how serious he was. She hissed in pain.

They were both panting, and the savage burn of Reno's wounds was beginning to penetrate his consciousness.

"Was this what you wanted?" he murmured harshly as his blood began to spill down the ninja's shoulder and drip heavily onto the floor on her opposite side. She shifted uneasily, and in the silence cleaving between them the patter of every thick droplet was a gunshot.

"Did you want to hurt me?" he hissed, his harsh words flaying her alive with each syllable. "Kill me because you're pissed somebody else took out your dad? Kill me because you weren't there to play _hero_?"

"_Yes_," she gasped, "It's what we both deserve."

"You don't get to decide that, kid. When this life is said and done we'll get what's coming to us, but until then," he snickered, "tough shit."

"I hate you! I hate you so much! After all the things you did and said… and I told myself you must have had a _reason _for the things you did! Godo, Godo… How could you keep doing it when it makes you just like _them_!" Yuffie sobbed.

She couldn't get all her words out or any of her words right, and she was anguished and ashamed and brokenhearted.

"You stupid, stupid girl," Reno's laughter was choked with misery. "If only you knew."

His hold became a violent embrace and he pressed a hard kiss against her ear. Yuffie, too numbed by her own sadness and anger to react, stood frozen.

"I'm sorry you saw what you did, I'm sorry this happened to your father, and I'm fucking sorry that I'm not who you want me to be, kid," he said quietly, "but I made a choice a long time ago, you little fool, and I live with that choice_ every day_. If you think I don't go to bed _every damn night_ wishing I could do it all over, knowing I can't and having to just keep going, then you don't understand _anything_ about the world we live in."

"What am I supposed to do? What do you want from me?" she moaned, forgetting his warning and struggling to free herself.

Her arms ached terribly, and Reno released the hold only to twist her, shoving her against the wall and pressing his forearm into her throat. His other hand moved with blinding speed and pushed his EMR into her ribs. In return Yuffie had snatched a small knife from her boot as he wedged his arm under her chin, the point now pressed into his own ribs.

"You'll listen to what I have to say, or else we're both going to end up dead here, kid," he snarled, pressing himself against the tip of her dagger until he felt the tip of it pierce his skin. He felt her hand tremble, the knife pulling back slightly as she tried to keep from cutting him deeper.

He nudged her chin upwards with his arm until she met his eyes, and he was both infuriated and enamored with the mutiny he saw therein.

"I had to make a choice," he grit out.

"Nobody should be able to live with themselves after making the choices you did. You can't justify the things you've done. You're nothing but filthy, worthless scum," she returned fiercely.

Reno stared into her eyes. "Nobody," he said slowly, "knows that better than me."

The silence was barren and cold.

She slumped, her eyes suddenly filling with water, and he couldn't bear the defeat and remorse he could see there.

"I never wanted to love you," he scorned, "at least not like this."

As he holstered his weapon he kept a wary eye on the ninja. She shuffled nervously around the room, craning her neck to relieve the tension and seeming to mull over all he had said. It wasn't until she tried to rub a bit of warmth into her arms that she became aware of the ruby smeared over her skin once again. She met his eyes, stricken, before turning them back to her blood stained palms.

Reno could barely feel the sting of the slices as he watched her, the misery and betrayal boiling beneath his skin worse than any injury he'd felt before. Yuffie closed her hands, feeling the sticky liquid smearing unpleasantly.

"I'm sorry," she murmured. "I could have killed you."

"I hope it'll take more than a ninja in a tantrum to finish me," he shrugged, his weak attempt at humor falling on deaf ears, and leaned against the wall.

She was studying him, roaming over his haggard features, his tired gaze, and his defeated stance with uncertain eyes. Blood was still dripping lazily down his neck, smudged over his face and clotting in his hair. The collar of his shirt was drinking it greedily, and as she looked down at his arm, she could see the slash in his sleeves and the seeping cut in his arm. The crimson was running down his wrist and splattering messily onto the floor, but they could have been tiny insect bites for all the interest he was paying them. He dug into his pocket and slowly withdrew a cigarette and a lighter.

It was only as he thrust the smoke into his lips and moved to light it that she saw his hand was shaking.

With a sob she dove at him, burying herself in his arm and knocking the lighter from his hand.

"You big dumb Turkey!" she shouted, trying to crawl deeper into his arms and punch at him wildly at the same time.

Her little fists eventually slowed down and crept around him, snaking underneath his jacket and resting against the smooth warmth of his back. Reno, startled, let the cigarette drop from his lips and brought his arms around her.

"You stupid little ninja," he replied softly, as her tears wet his shirt.

"What if I had? What if I had?" she cried, "Reno, what if I _had_…"

"At least I would have gone down fighting," he shrugged.

Yuffie lifted her reddened gaze to his and glared.

He leaned down, slow and cautious and smiling, until he tasted her lips.

She exhaled shakily, standing on tiptoe to deepen the kiss. His long fingers twined into her hair, her hands swept up to his shoulders, and despite the blood and betrayal and questions still between them, they slid clumsily to the floor.

"I love you," she bemoaned wetly. "Even when I ran, I loved you. I'm so sorry…"

"It doesn't matter anymore," he murmured. "Let it go."

She wondered what a macabre tableau they were making as he rolled her underneath him and kissed her. She could taste the copper sting of his blood as he explored the inside of her mouth, could feel it cracking and flaking away between their lips. Blood, black old and crimson new, stained her thigh as he reached his arm down and urged her to wrap her leg around him. It smeared over her cheek with his long hair as he pressed stirring kisses down her neck. She wanted to weep and laugh, because it was monstrous and beautiful and everything they were together.

They shed their clothing like snakeskin, shimmying out and forgetting they ever had a use for it as they came back together, a shock of limbs sliding over limbs, whispers tumbling over whispers.

Reno's body was harsh and pale, scar stung and world raped, where she could read the harsh reality of his life in the bullet bitten constellations of his skin or the haphazard patchwork of his oft broken bones. Yuffie's body was lithe and small, culture bred and futilely beautiful, where he could see the faded splendor of her Wutaian teachings in the gentle slope of her shoulders or the desperate defiance of it in the proud arch of her spine.

She touched him gently, contrition and remorse in each graze of her fingers, her body begging his for forgiveness. His laughed at her efforts in return, fond and teasing; and over and over, his tongue etched his name into her skin. Yuffie felt like a broken doll when he parted her thighs and slid inside her, shattering fantastically each time the silk of his hair brushed over her collarbone. The air smelled of copper and salt, and tears stung her eyes and drove tracks through the dried blood on her cheek. Why was she forever crying?

He locked eyes with her, endlessly blue, endlessly green, and she tightened her legs around his waist, wishing she could wrap herself around him a million times over. She was sorry and stupid and sad, and she wound her arms around his neck and pulled his face to her own so she could forget it for now. His lips cajoled and teased until she was nearly frantic in her efforts to catch them. He finally gave in, closing his eyes so he could focus solely on the feel of her mouth against his.

"Reno," she sighed, and he shifted above her.

"Just let go," he urged, and his eyes were for once free of cynicism and reserve. She felt herself uncoiling, unclenching, from within, and gave in to the sweet strangeness between them. A savage kind of hope was rising in her soul; a knowledge that it was over and she could heal surging through her.

Reno watched her eyes grow soft and luminous, as black as pitch beneath the gentle hotel lights. He shuddered, terrified and awed by a depth of emotion he'd never known before.

* * *


	15. Chapter 14

Embitterment

By: Glass Mermaid

Disclaimer: I own nothing that you recognize.

AN: I'm very sorry for the lateness of this update. I was on vacation, actually! I went on a week long cruise to Alaska and it was awesome, but I'm recovering now from all the fun.

* * *

Chapter Fourteen

* * *

That night, they lay in the darkness in the soft Inn bed and Yuffie pushed the hollow burn of grief deep within her and held Reno to her. She knew what she had to do, and she knew that if she didn't live through it, she'd hold this night behind her eyes as death overwhelmed her. Reno sensed something of what she planned, but could do nothing but watch and wait.

And so they lay entwined beneath the sheets and spoke of nothing and everything between them.

"What if they asked you to kill me?" Yuffie whispered, tracing Wutaian symbols for love and duty and honor on his chest.

"That's a fucking stupid question," he murmured around his cigarette. He was careful to keep the hot ashes from falling on his skin.

And it was a stupid question, and an unfair question, and just the type of question a foolish girl would ask.

"No it isn't," she said playfully, the whine of the girl she'd been before ghosting through.

And he didn't have to think about it because he already knew the answer, having thought about it many times before, preparing for any eventuality. In his line of work what seemed improbable usually became the possible.

He'd have to take her by surprise, because range and speed were her bread and butter, and when all was said and done he knew he couldn't take her down without that element backing him.

"I'd kill you real fast and I'd kill you real quiet, and then I'd go back to Headquarters and kill the boss man."

"You'd kill Rufus?"

"If he made me kill you."

"Why wouldn't you just say no?" she snorted.

_Because_, he thought, _if I didn't kill you, sweet little Elena might be sent, and you'd kill her so quick her little blonde head wouldn't even have time to spin. If I didn't kill you, huge, deadly Rude might be sent, and the thought of your little bones breaking beneath his massive fists makes me want to die. Because if I didn't kill you, deadly, torturous Tseng might be sent and he'd kill you so badly the blood would never come out of the walls. _

Instead, he shrugged. "My loyalty runs deeper than love, brat."

He ignored the fact that he might have just made another roundabout confession to her again. He ignored the fact that he might have just wounded her deeply in the same sentence. It seemed like he could only do little but, but he tried to ease to hurt.

"You can't tell me for a second that when Wutai calls you won't leave my ass faster than you'll steal my materia."

"Like you have any good stuff," she scoffed, but didn't deny him. It stung, as expected.

"What does it matter?" he asked peevishly, "Just don't give Rufus a reason to kill you."

"I'm… I'm the leader of Wutai now. It's politics. There could always be a reason," she said flippantly.

"Fuck that," he snapped, but he said nothing more.

Her hair spilled across the white skin of his chest as she lay her head down, the blackness like silk against him.

"Why'd you become a Turk? Were you this redheaded little kid who dreamed of blue suits and shock sticks and getting beat up by my supremely awesome gang of awesome awesomeness?"

"I thought you were called AVALANCHE," he snorted.

"Reno, come on!"

He had been a little redheaded kid who dreamed of the metallic taste of blood in his mouth and the crumble of broken teeth on his tongue. He'd been a little boy who dreamed of how to twist away from closed fists and how to dodge heavy boots. He'd been a little boy who dreamed of revenge and respect and power and all the good things he'd been denied. He had become a cunning, dangerous young man who turned those dreams into knowledge and then that knowledge into expertise beneath Tseng's tutelage.

Working for Shin-Ra hadn't always been kidnapping and extortion and murder, but through the years that it was he had been the best of the best. Even trying out his clumsy hand as one of the good guys, things hadn't changed that much. He still had plenty of time to flex his darker muscles, he thought with a bitter grimace. Unfortunately, Rufus couldn't change the world with good manners, polite smiles, and gentle persuasion. It had to be done with blood, sweat, and a fuck-load of cash.

"For the money," he shrugged, and reaching over blindly, ground his cigarette out against the nightstand.

She didn't believe him.

"The shock stick is just a bonus?" she sighed into the awning silence and tried to pretend it didn't hurt that he wouldn't tell her. Her fingers snuck across his chest and toyed with his ponytail.

"What about you?" he muttered.

He decided that if she was going to ask hard questions, he might as well return the favor.

"How come you don't want to rule Wutai so bad anymore?"

Her fingers slowed their frantic tangling of his hair. She thought of her father, and her heart bled with fury and pain and a bitter, bitter thirst for vengeance. She pushed the feelings away, trying to concentrate on the beat of Reno's pulse.

I never thought I'd be stepping over the blood of Godo to take that power. I never wanted it that bad. I want it even less like this.

"Come on, me? I'd be sitting there in meetings with all those old fuddy-duddies blathering on about taxes and treaties and trade agreements and all of a sudden they'd look over and I'd be dead. They have_ killed me with_ _boredom_! _Why?_ They'd weep, _why didn't we do fun things like fly kites and race chickens and have cartwheel competitions?_"

She flung herself off of his chest and onto her back on the bed, releasing an exaggerated sigh.

"It'd be all tragic and beautiful and stuff, what with all the weeping and the showers of flower petals because the whole world would be in mourning and they'd proclaim every Tuesday Yuffie Day and the whole day would be devoted to yam eating contests and booty shaking competitions."

"And chicken racing," Reno supplied.

"Of course. And Cloud would dedicate a sword to me and Tifa would wear my bandana around her gigantic boobs so everyone would see it. Barrett would cry huge wet man tears with Marlene and Dustil, Cid would name a new airship The Kisaragi, and Vincent would confess his true love for me and get even more depressed and angst ridden because that's _what he does._ Oh! And Nanaki would find a mate and name the baby after me. Can you imagine fluffy little Yuffie Junior?"

"What about me?" Reno asked warily.

"That's the best part," she hugged herself giddily, remembered he was there, and hugged him instead. "I am secretly alive the whole time through the magic and mystery of science. It was a tonic, you see. They'd put me on Da Chao for a whole day to deliver my spirit to the ancestors because that's how we roll in Wutai, and you'd come and give me the antidote and we'd have mad, crazy, not dead sex and then we'd scatter some pretty feather's around so that when they came to take me to the Kisaragi tomb in the morning they'd say '_Ohmygawdgreatancestorswhatthefuck, Lady Yuffie ascended to the heavens on the wings of a hummingbird she is so awesome!_'"

"Yea?" Amused, Reno lifted himself up on his elbow and cocked a brow. "What next?"

"Naturally," she said, pretending not to be fascinated by the coil of his bright hair as it spilled over her collarbone, "we'd run away to a cave and live a life of sin and luxury and helicopter rides and we'd have Super Ninja Turk babies with red hair and one boring serious one called Pagoda Magrod who would one day make his triumphant return to Wutai and rule as the rightful heir because he actually wants the job."

"Rude," she added, "can visit if he promises to bring us candy bars."

Reno pressed a kiss to her neck, exhausted and amused and hopeless in the face of her enthusiastic oddity.

"I think he'd be down for that," he murmured sleepily.

Yuffie kissed shyly kissed his cheek and buried her face in his neck. Her smile drifted slowly away, replaced by the heated burn of tears behind her lids. She snuggled against him tighter.

"I think I can still love you because you want to be better than what you are even when you think you can't be," she murmured. "It doesn't stop you from _wanting_. That makes all the difference."

Reno's pulse jumped, a giddy, stupid joy bolting through him. He tightened his grip on her, closing his eyes to hide how much it meant to hear her say that. She loved him, and even if a month, a year, ten years down the road she didn't, he'd always have her for tonight.

"I love you because you're a fucking lunatic," he said hoarsely, his fingers trailing over her arm.

Overjoyed and miserable and satisfied and hollow, she giggled softly into the shadows and rubbed away the tears that fell onto his skin before he knew they were there.

* * *

She snuck out when the night was still young, a thread of shadow slipping from the room into silence. Behind her, Reno's eyes opened and he stared blankly at the ceiling and tried not to feel betrayed.

He knew she had to go and take back the honor of her fallen father.

And he knew he had to follow.

* * *

Yuffie was feeling pretty lucky. The chocobo she'd had to rent to cross the mountain ranges from Nibelheim to Rocket Town was a dark, shadowy green that blended well with the trees, and was as quick as the giant birds could be, which, considering the length and strength of their legs, was pretty darn quick.

She was used to forests at night, and allowed the bird enough rein to pluck its own path through the trees and rocks without fear of getting lost. The higher up the mountain they went, the colder and colder it became, and she began to mutter bitterly to herself about finally giving in and wearing the pants she had avoided for so long.

"I don't want to, Broccoli," she whined to the bird beneath her. "Lady ninja pants are like, _poured_ on. You need a tub of grease to squeeze yourself into them and getting them off is like peeling a grape! You can see my lady lines! My fanny fissure! My feminine fracture!"

Broccoli remained disinterested but she prattled on anyway. It helped take her mind of the fear and the grief singing war songs in her blood. She didn't want to think about what she'd have to do.

"Reno would probably like them," she mused aloud. "I bet he'd really like it if I wore that slinky get up that looks like you're heading off to the beach rather than a battlefield though. They're cut so high up your thigh they're pretty much waist level. Tifa could pull off the look, because she's got boobs bigger than a bowl full of melons and good old curvy birthin' hips, but I'd end up looking like a pasty ten year old girl who hiked a speedo over her shoulders. Yea, we won't be trying that one out."

She hoped to anyone who might be listening that she'd have the chance to make that kind of a fool of herself in front of him.

The mountain passed swiftly beneath them, and Broccoli picked up speed as they picked their way down the rocky slopes. He knew the way well, and knew that gysahl greens and a warm stall awaited him when he got there.

"Greedy greedy green green," Yuffie huffed as Broccoli pulled on the reins. "You might be eager to get where you're going, but I'm so totally not."

_Cid Highwind_, she grumbled inwardly, _I'm feeling real good right now. You get to slap me down like I did to you. It's only fair. _

"… and Shera gets a free slap too," she sighed to the night air.

* * *

She knocked, three rapid beats against the old door, and waited with her heart in her throat. What would Cid do when he saw her? She really, really, _really _didn't want an Ultima to the face.

Before Yuffie was even remotely prepared Shera opened the door, the warm light from within the house shining over her brown ponytail as she blinked in stunned surprise.

Yuffie's stomach twisted itself into huge, tight knots. The skin of her face felt tight and hot as her mouth opened and she tried to speak from a suddenly dry throat.

"Shera, I –"

"_Damn it, brat!"_

The sudden roar yanked a gasp from her throat as Cid appeared behind his wife in the doorway. Pushing past Shera, he wrapped a fist around the ninja's forearm and unceremoniously dragged her away.

"Go back inside," he ordered curtly, and the brunette complied without question, staring at the two with sad eyes.

Yuffie felt her hand numbing as her circulation was cut off by the pilot's tight grip, and she winced.

"Cid, let me go!"

"She doesn't know anythin', girl," he muttered.

Yuffie's mouth fell open and she stared at him as he hauled her along. He halted in front of The Shera, clumsily unlocking the airship with one hand, throwing open the door and shoving her inside before he locked it again.

"But, how could you not tell her?" Yuffie asked angrily, rubbing her abused limb and carefully backing away from the irate man.

"Shera's the best damn thing to ever happen to me," he snapped, bearing down on the girl while she tried to stay just out of reach. "Just like you're the fuckin' worst."

She swallowed. That hurt.

"Look, I didn't come here to cause trouble – " she tried.

"When do you do anythin' but?" he retorted hotly.

He loomed, large and muscular and she suddenly remembered how brutal he was in a fight. Would he hurt her in his anger? She didn't quite know what to expect, but she felt her short temper fraying under the strength of his antagonism. As she stepped backwards onto the bridge, Cid still in threatening pursuit, she bent her knees. Muscles bunching and coiling, she flipped backwards smoothly, her wrist flicking blindingly fast as she arched. When she landed smoothly there was adequate distance between the two of them and a vicious throwing star was planted squarely between the captain's now unmoving feet.

"I ought to wring your goddamn neck," he snarled dangerously.

"You'd have to catch me first, old man, and I don't think you have it in you," she jeered angrily.

She knew this wasn't going to be easy, but damn him, he didn't have to make it _this_ hard! Had they ruined any chance of friendship between them because of one night? Stupid jerk! He always was too hotheaded for his own good.

His eyes were icy with fury, but as Yuffie crossed her arms huffily and tapped her foot against the ground, he felt the wall of anger crack, sorrow pouring through instead. She was still the same beautiful, infuriating little brat. The weeks hadn't altered her any, and she stood there as easily as ever, acting like nothing had changed between them.

But the truth was, everything had changed. When he had seen her standing on his doorstep, still all huge dark eyes and full lips, his heart had clenched painfully. All the time that had passed, dulling the pain and the guilt, were suddenly torn away, stealing his breath along with them. He couldn't let her blurt out their mess to Shera, but looking at her now, he knew that being alone with her again was a very bad idea.

"Cid," she whispered, arms falling to her sides.

"Shut up, brat. Let a man think," he whispered huskily.

Wishing he had a cigarette, he turned to the helm and walked to the old fashioned wheel, settling his hands over the familiar wood. It was calming. He needed it.

"Why'd you leave like that?" he asked without looking at her.

Ashamed, the girl stared at the pilot, taking in the aura of misery and fatigue that surrounded him. She'd put most of it there, and the knowledge made her insides ache with despair. This was Cid, and she had seen his pain the same night they'd come together so intensely. How could she not have seen how much more suffering she'd heap on top of his already sagging shoulders by running out on him? Above all else she'd failed him as a friend.

"I was trying to do the right thing," Yuffie mumbled.

He chuckled sourly, his gloved hands fidgeting with the wheel. "It was too damn late for that, brat."

She approached the helm cautiously, standing on the level below it and looking up at him. He raised his usually snapping blue eyes to hers and they watched one another sadly.

"You've got Shera. She's perfect for you. After a few weeks with me you'd be desperate for the peace and quiet. If you were with me, Cid, you'd miss this life," she said.

He studied her, sad and tired and burned by the truth. She was right, but it was hard to recall why when his heart was pounding just looking at her. He remembered her body under his hands, her legs wrapped around his waist, her hands on his shoulders, her mouth beneath his. He remembered her small breasts in his palms, the softness of her hair on his chest, her small hand in his, her voice chanting his name.

He knew he had thrown himself at her pretty hard. Hell, what man wouldn't when they had the chance like he had? He damned himself but it was true. He had always taken himself for one of the good guys, one of the honest guys. Yet, here he was, pining away for a girl sixteen years younger than him while his wife puttered away in his house not fifty feet away.

His fists tightened, the leather bunching noisily, and as he looked down at those traitorous hands, he swallowed hard.

Yuffie, sensing his misery and feeling the echo of it inside of her, tried to offer some measure of comfort. Astoundingly agile, she leapt onto the console in front of him, keeping her feet from hitting any important controls. Balancing carefully, she crouched in front of him, trying to get him to lift his face.

"Cid?" she murmured.

He raised his eyes to her, their pale azure hue reminding her incongruously of summer skies and spring flowers in Wutai. So close to him, her chest began to ache, and a shiver of longing darted through her body. It was wrong, wrong, wrong, but he was so beautiful to her, and so broken by her, and she had never thought she could have so destructive an effect on a man as strong as Cid Highwind.

If she hadn't fallen in love with Reno, they might have stood a chance.

"You're a damn fool for showin' up here, girl," he rasped, and kissed her gently, a dangerously tender press of lips that left her aching and guilty and so very, very sad.

He drew away, his hands clamped tightly to the steering wheel, knuckles white with restraint. Understanding, Yuffie leapt gracefully down to the lower level, keeping her back to him while she got herself back under control.

"I meant what I said, Cid. I didn't come here to cause trouble. Godo, he - "

She halted awkwardly, the crushing thought of the people who did this burning her alive with anger and pain. She took a sharp breath, hurt pulsing through her so strongly that she thought she might crack inside, before trying again. She had to focus. She couldn't tell him about the danger to herself, either, or he'd try to stop her.

When she spoke next, her voice was steady enough to make her proud. "I have something I have to do in Wutai for my father."

Cid studied her rigid form for a moment, thinking hard about the old Wutain lord. What was bothering the brat so bad now?

Wandering close to the huge windows, Yuffie traced a finger over the cold glass.

"I came here to tell you I was sorry I hurt you," she said, voice weak, and turned back to Cid. "Sometimes it hurts so bad inside, but I refuse to regret it. It made me grow up, in a lot of ways, and I'm grateful," she murmured, smiling sadly.

"I'm glad you came before you ambled of to Wutai," Cid acknowledged, but when she wouldn't meet his eyes, he looked at her harder. "What does Godo need from you in such a hurry?"

"I had to say… To both of you…I had to leave him behind again," she laughed a little hysterically, giving into her tears, and Cid knew that there was so much more to the story than she was letting him in on.

She was holding herself like she was fearful of breaking apart. Her hair fell forward, obscuring her eyes, but he could see tears just like he remembered from that night trickling silently down her cheeks as the moonlight caught them.

_What in hell in goin' on here?_

"What ain't you tellin' me, Yuffie? Who'd you leave behind?" he asked, and without knowing why, he found himself holding his breath.

Yuffie dragged in a breath, swallowed, and kept her eyes downcast.

"Reno," she whispered. Reno… Red haired, leering, cocky, vicious, deadly Reno…

The misery and longing in her little voice told him all he needed to know, and though the envy he had expected, the agony that burst through him took him by surprise. He realized his fists, still hanging onto the steering, were tightened painfully. His chest felt tight and swollen, and he closed his eyes, drawing in a shaky, calming breath.

He didn't understand how she could fall in love with that dirty bastard.

"So he's the one?" he asked sharply, letting go of the wheel and stepping slowly towards the tearful girl.

She raised her eyes to him, studying his form in the smooth light, and maddeningly, holding her tongue.

He needed to hear her say it. He wanted to hear her say it. He had to know that she wanted that goddamn redheaded criminal more than she wanted him so that he could banish all the useless, pained, pathetic yearnings he had for her.

Clenching his jaw, he closed the distance between them, attempting to stare her into submission but finding only mutiny and misery in her upturned gaze.

Damn her, damn her… he was scalded by jealousy and the futility of the whole situation and if she didn't _say it_ he was going to go crazy.

He twisted his hands into her hair because he could think of nothing else to do, and yanked her hard against him into a fierce embrace. He wanted her. He pitied her more. He steadied himself, one hand still fisted in her hair, his chin resting on the crown of her head, his other arm clasped around her back. Her thin arms came up, surrounding him gently, even as her shoulders shook with sobs.

Say it. Say it_. Say it, goddamnit!_

"He -" she began chokingly, breaking off.

"Hell, brat," he groaned, uncertain, and when she lifted her tear stained face to his, he tried to soothe her in his own clumsy way, stroking the bared skin of her back and pulling her closer until they were wrapped tightly around one another, sad and lonely friends in the cold moonlight.

"I love him," she wept, "I love him! I wish I'd loved you first!"

"I wish that were true," he rasped.

She wept harder.

When had everything turned so dark and ugly?

"Cid, I'm sorry!" she cried, "I don't know how to do anything but run!"

"We all do it," he soothed her inelegantly, "Cryin' won't solve anythin' girl."

She swallowed hard, hot tears flooding her eyes. She wanted to be strong and self-assured and brave. She wanted to boast and brag like she always did, and prove to them all that she meant what she said… So why was she trying to crawl so deep into Cid's arms and block out the rest of the world? He felt so good, so warm.

She was tired, for once, of trying to convince the world she wasn't intimidated. She was tired of saving the rest of the world. She had failed to save her own father, the one person who she should have protected the most.

"Cid, please, let me do this."

"Don't, Yuffie, don't do this to me," he sighed, but brushed his mouth against hers despite himself.

Her tears cooled against his skin when he pressed his cheek to hers, melted against his tongue when he caught her lips again. He held her close, loving and hating the feel of her body once more. She curled her fingers into his spiky hair, holding his mouth firmly against hers, and they spoke wordlessly to one another in gentle sweeps of tongue and delicate brushes of lips.

The moonlight melted over them, soft and gauzy, their world once more cloaked in cold blue.

He knew somehow, that she was facing something out of his hands.

And so he let her say goodbye, and then he let her go.

* * *


	16. Chapter 15

Embitterment

By: Glass Mermaid

Disclaimer: I own nothing that you recognize.

AN: I'm sorry for the shortness of this chapter. It's for impact. Next chapter is the epilogue... The final chapter.

* * *

Chapter Fifteen

* * *

Wutai was nothing like Reno remembered or imagined. It contrasted harshly with itself, filled with elegant red lacquered wood and dusty, uneven roads. Straggly, yellowed grass spiked through lush explosions of flowers and tumbling streams of clear water ignored the imposing silence of the mountains. It was quaint, he thought distastefully, and provincial. It was no wonder that the little ninja had spent the majority of her life running from the stale and silent city of Wutai; he'd have been bouncing off the damn walls.

He had followed roughly four hours behind the slower traveling Yuffie, knowing that he had to let her do all the things she needed to, even visiting Highwind in Rocket Town. He had, however, flipped the pilot's city the bird as he passed overhead.

When he'd landed the helicopter outside of Wutai, checked to make sure he was properly equipped, and headed onwards on foot, the thick feeling of dread that had been carried with him all the way had begun to grow. He knew where to go, Rufus had supplied the directions, and when he'd turned up the beaten dirt path and entered the yard of a beautiful manor to find the dead body of what looked like a gatekeeper, he knew that he had found the right place.

_Yuffie,_ he thought uncertainly, you okay?

Reno made his way up the steps and cautiously entered the eerily opened front doors. He waded through three rooms, eyes drifting over every sprawled body that littered the floor or slumped against the wall, his heart pounding with fear and anxiety when another was spotted, his breath rushing from him in relief when none of them had her face.

Blood painted black pictures across the thin walls, and nothing stirred behind ripped rice paper and splintered wood. He crushed a wall scroll painted with intricate dragons beneath his heel. He passed a window lined with shattered latticework carvings, the body of an old man slumped over it and draped half into the koi pond outside. He kicked aside a low, turned over table and stepped over the sprawled body of a woman clutching the ground with a throwing star shining from the back of her neck, a katana just out of reach of her stiff fingers. In front of an altar to Leviathan, a teenage boy with a broken neck stared sightlessly at the roof. The cracked half of a squat teacup lay beside its whole brothers, and cold tea seeped from his sleeve into the floor mats.

His mind numbed the farther in he walked. She must have struck when they were readying themselves for bed, catching as many of the family unaware before the warning spread and weapons were gathered. She had moved like the assassin she was trained to be, and when the assassin was revealed she became the fighter that had saved the world twice over. Seven bodies lay dead within the house. Twelve guards lay dead about the grounds. She had spared no one, and he found it impossible to reconcile the giggling, clumsy girl he knew with the cold-blooded woman who had exacted her revenge.

Wutaian honor made as little sense to him as his own did.

He finally found Yuffie collapsed on her knees in the fourth blood-splattered room, breathing evenly with her head hung so low he thought she was sleeping; her hands limp and boneless against the floor. Her beloved shuriken rested beside her, forgotten like the worst of dreams.

He approached her slowly; careful not to startle her because he couldn't possibly fathom what kind of state she'd be in. All he could do was try and suppress the shivers of dread still quaking through his body, thanking whatever god watched over her that she was still breathing, over and over again. He stopped and knelt in front of her, and when she tipped her face up to meet his gaze, her eyes were those of a stricken, lost child. Tears cut rivulets through the scarlet smeared over her cheeks, and the heavy sting of copper and sweat and death burned his nose as if drifted from her skin.

"Reno," she said, whisper-quiet, broken, "what have I done?"

He didn't need to say anything. The ragged remains of what had once been her enemies lay scattered around the manor telling brutal sagas of execution. The blood on the walls whispered vicious and morbid stories of stealth and speed and shuriken.

"You did what you had to do, kid," he murmured, sorry in a way he'd never felt before.

"I did?" she asked tremulously.

She blinked, black eyes fathomless and wild in the darkness, trailing over sprawling limbs and crumpled figures that had once been her deceitful subjects. She was thinking of the visit to her father's home, and how Godo's blood had still stained his bedroll, the damp and sour rot of it scenting the room with decay where once there had been sandalwood. She had been filled with sorrow and wrath, and _this_ was what she had done.

"It was you or them," he said quietly. "If you'd left one standing they would have come after you and yours and the blood debt would start all over. It was you or them."

"I'm the leader of Wutai now," she mumbled, head dropping down once again. "Godo… always said he'd hang on till I was ready."

She swallowed, throat dry, her hand creeping up and curling into his shirt. He put his own over it, trying to draw out the chill of shock, surprised by how small her fingers seemed after he'd seen what they had done.

"Do you think I'm ready?" she whispered as if the corpses could still hear her.

"Yea," he said, his own voice harsh and raspy in the silence. "I do."

She leaned her head gently into his chest; fingers still wound tightly into his shirt, and said no more. Reno closed his eyes, regretting that it had come to this for her, knowing she had lost more than just her freedom when she retook her honor with their lives. He swept his fingers through her hair, ignoring the tacky blood that clumped the black strands together, and pressed his lips against the crown of her head.

"Stay with me," she pleaded, trembling.

And so he held her in the darkness as the ghosts and the dead sat silent vigil, as the moonlight drank the shadowed blood, as every breath echoing in the stillness accused them of betrayal.

As she wept for what she'd done.

* * *

Again, sorry for the shortness. I felt that it was necessary to feel the impact of what Yuffie had just done.

* * *


	17. Epilogue

Embitterment

By: Glass Mermaid

Disclaimer: I own nothing that you recognize.

AN: I admit I procrastinated with the final chapter. I was having so much fun that I didn't want the ride to end.

Also, I know absolutely nothing about kimonos, aside from what I researched on the internet. Forgive me any errors, I did my best.

* * *

**One Year Later**

* * *

Yuffie tugged impatiently at her collar, shifting on her knees and trying to adjust the weight of the heavy fabric of the furisode she'd been forced to wear to today's meeting. It was restricting and red and covered with black and white butterflies. Why did everyone like those floppy little bugs so much anyway? They were so… twitchy.

Jabbing spitefully at one of the aforementioned insects on her thigh, she sighed and dragged her attention back to the meeting. They were talking about roads, right? Trade routes? Checkpoints? Whatever it was, it was boring and she wanted to be outside. She wasn't even allowed to call Cid in on a rescue mission again because the grouch had instated an 'emergency flights only' policy after he told her she was wasting his precious fuel. At one point she'd even nodded off and when Reeve's not-so-subtle kick had woke her up, she'd squealed like a moron and every person in the room had stared at her, understandably. She'd had to use the excessively long sleeves of her kimono to wipe away the trail of drool on her chin.

"Lady Kisaragi," some old geezer from Nibelheim was saying, "what do you think of the preposition?"

Yuffie swallowed. "Uh," she glanced at Reeve, who looked back as if to say _you should have been paying attention._ She glared at him. "I'd like to hear what Reeve thinks."

Reeve's eyes narrowed, but she caught the twinkle of humor behind the fierce look.

"Of course, my lady," he nodded and began speaking. "For some time now, I have been discussing several options for furthering the reach and influence of the WRO with our world leaders. The people need to know we're here to help, and trusted delegates need to be put in place…"

Yuffie immediately lost interest and glanced longingly out the delicately carved window to her left. She'd been attending meetings like this since she'd taken her place on the pagoda and nothing ever got decided during them. She no longer cared what trade routes went where, what shipping agreements were decided on, or who got what lumber contracts. Reeve could figure it out on his own because he seemed to thrive on that kind of thing. She was much, much better at keeping the peace, she thought with an inward grin.

She glanced between the attentively listening men and women sitting around the low table, (noticing, rather bitterly, that she was the only one in formal attire) and her quick mind formed a plan.

A daring, evil, insidious plan that would require all her cunning and skill to pull off.

Yanking herself awkwardly to her feet, she kicked off her Zōri, yanked her tight robes indecently high above her knees and bolted towards freedom with her sleeves trailing like cheery red pinions in the wind.

"So long, suckers!" she crowed, darting through the sliding door and slamming it behind her.

Whooping loudly, she took off for fresh air and sunshine, leaving a crowd of bewildered onlookers behind her.

"Is she quite alright?" the Corel liaison asked.

"Of course," Reeve said smoothly, chuckling. "I'm surprised she withstood being cooped up for so long, actually. She must be growing up. Shall we continue?"

* * *

Yuffie tore off the sashes, layers and pieces of her extravagant robes, tossing them behind her while one of the maids frantically gathered her discarded garments up and called for her to come back.

Finally clad only in the camisole and boycut briefs she'd insisted on wearing underneath her finery, she raced off towards the Da Chao, knowing the maids wouldn't follow her there. It didn't matter if her people saw her dashing through Wutai in her skivvies either, they were used to her eccentricities and a little hot gossip kept the citizens entertained and out of trouble.

Scrabbling up the mountainous paths barefoot and mostly naked, Yuffie had never felt so wickedly awesome. She would have skipped out hours ago if she had known how good it would feel to have the wind skimming over her skin. Yuffie wasn't built for long hours of the silent and the still. She needed her hands covered in shuriken callous' and her throat raw from hollering! She needed blue skies in her eyes and grass stains on her heels!

"My, my, my Wutai!" she sang happily as she ascended.

By the time she reached the peaks she was covered in dust, scrapes and had a pretty big stone wedged between her toes, but she didn't mind. Taking a seat along the edge, she kicked her aching feet against the cool breeze and sighed happily.

"I totally know you're here scowling disapprovingly at me, Godo!" she grinned as she scanned the thriving town below, "but I am way too awesome to care right now!"

Leaning back on her arms, Yuffie basked in the sunshine while peering intently out over the landscape of Wutai. All of her people were down there, walking, shopping, cooking, cleaning, playing, sleeping… And most likely gossiping about her spontaneous strip tease through the busy streets.

Things were good. Things were great. Things were amazingly wonderful!

It had taken her a long time to deal with the terrible night she'd extracted her revenge, and an even longer time to move on. To make amends with their spirits and her own, she had made sure the entire Kawa family was honored upon burial, keeping their duplicity secret so that their ancient name remained untarnished. It had been painful to twist the truth to her people, but they were told that an assassin had struck the Kawa family as well as Godo, and had been killed by her hands.

She had seen the other side of the coin, and she liked to think she'd grown up and out of a world of black and white.

Wutai was growing, prospering, _flourishing_, and her people were beginning to accept that some traditions had to be given up while others had to be closely cherished. With Reeve's help and a bit of extravagant Shinra funding, the city itself was slowly being renovated and expanded. More and more goods were being exported and the population was increasing as people around the world heard of Wutai's expansion and moved to the continent.

"And our people are _welcoming_ them, Godo!" she cried out happily.

Laughing to herself, she tilted her head back and decided to enjoy the tickle of the wind against her ears and try to listen for her father's soothing spirit within it all.

She tried.

She tried again, straining to hear the breezes but hearing only…

A repetitious throbbing just out of earshot was disrupting her peace. Opening her eyes, she peered upwards as the thumping got progressively louder. Finally, Yuffie spotted a sleek black shape against the cerulean sky, heading towards Wutai.

A helicopter. _His_ helicopter!

Heart leaping into her throat, she skittered to her feet and backed away from the cliffside. The last thing she needed was to end her days as a pancake at the bottom of Da Chao. Closer and closer the helicopter came until there was no mistaking the faded red Shinra logo on the side.

Screeching excitedly Yuffie took off back down the mountain, coming perilously close to tripping off the rocky slopes, breaking limbs and killing herself more than once. There was no stopping her though, not when she was on a mission. Her feet hit grass, her tender soles weeping with relief, and she hollered excitedly as the whine of the engines powering down faded away.

"Turkey's ahoy!" she screamed, waving her skinny arms wildly.

The doors slid open, and Yuffie was surprised to see that only Reno's red head peeked cautiously out, his bony body swiftly following. Where was Rude? Where was Rufus? Not that she wasn't just a tiny bit glad. They were only able to see one another once a week on Reno's days off, though Yuffie whined that Rufus could spare him for longer. Two days was as good as two seconds as far as she was concerned. She wanted the lanky, cynical, foul mouthed redhead every minute of every day, but she could never find the words to tell him how much he meant to her.

"You need a haircut," she blurted, her eyes mesmerized by the crimson strands falling over and around his face.

Reno blinked at her, smirking slightly as he looked her dusty body up and down.

"You need a goddamn wardrobe," he snorted.

She stuck a hand on her hip, doing a pirouette before him. "I'm thinking of making it the mandatory fashion law here. I think it would go over real big with the over sixty crowd, don't you?"

He looked her over speculatively.

"Don't you like it?" she asked, fluttering her lashes at him ridiculously.

"I think a better question," he muttered, his arms snaking around her and yanking her close, "is why the fuck haven't you kissed me yet?"

And so she did just that, standing on tip toes and pressing her dusty lips against his without any care for the fact that her people might be watching. She kissed him until they were both shaky and breathless and then she slid from his arms and danced away, laughing because she knew what she did to him.

Shaking his head, Reno followed, smirking slightly and swatting at her skinny bottom as he passed by.

"I ain't got time to play, kid. I've got an important business meeting to attend. I might be a bit late," he shrugged carelessly.

"You were coming to that snore fest? It started hours ago, Reno!" she yelled indignantly, crossing her arms. "Gawd, if you had showed up we could of spent hours playing Captain Make Out and Queen Kissylips _under_ the table instead of me falling asleep on top of it! _Alone_, I might add."

She sniffed and strode away, a nearby maid rushing forward and draping a beautiful blue robe around her slim form. Two more maids rushed in and began binding, wrapping, brushing and… he couldn't even tell. Instead, Reno leisurely admired the length of her swathed in the azure fabric as he listened to the sound of her impatient whining.

Shaking his head as she emerged, the proverbial beautiful butterfly from the cocoon of their anxious arms, he tried to pretend it didn't affect him at all. It did though, damn it. Seeing her looking every inch the lady never failed to unnerve him. However, ladies didn't generally scowl so mutinously.

"Come on kid," he soothed awkwardly. "Let's get going. Reeve is going to burst an artery when he sees me."

"Why?" Yuffie asked curiously, yanking impatiently at the pretty chocolate colored sash around her waist.

Reno smirked secretively and shrugged, ignoring her incessant begging as she led him towards the conference room.

* * *

"He's running unexpectedly late," Reeve apologized for the hundredth time, the side of his shoe tapping an infuriated beat out of sight beneath the low table. "The WRO has the utmost respect for your busy schedules and understands how valuable your time is. Whatever the reason he's late is, it must be of the utmost urgency."

The thin door slid opened abruptly, followed by a low snort.

"I had to pick up some smokes," Reno drawled, ambling in and sinking his lanky body down to the floor. Yuffie failed to hide her ecstatic grin, wiggling in beside him in her tight new attire and beaming at the men and women still seated.

"Kidding, of course," the redhead added as he glanced at the irritated leader of the WRO. "Routine mission supply acquisitions took longer then usual."

Reeve closed his eyes momentarily and drew in a long, steadying breath before pasting on a confident smile.

"I am proud to introduce Reno of the Turks as the new WRO delegate of Wutai, to this assembly," he said as warmly as he could, his eyes falling on the surprised Yuffie.

She leapt up as nimbly as her furisode allowed, throwing herself onto the redhead in just as little time. "Oh my gawd, Reno! You're going to live here?" she cried out.

The edges of his lips quirking as he tamped down his grin and tried to act suave, Reno nodded. "This isn't some vacation though. I've got to sweet talk old ladies and kiss babies and shit," he shrugged. "The Turks were all sent out as WRO delegates. Elena got Nibelheim, Rude's in Corel, I'm in Wutai and Tseng is sticking in Edge with the boss man. Sweet deal, huh? You're stuck with me now."

The ladies and gentlemen watching the odd spectacle were conscious of being completely ignored but unable to quite put their finger on the insult when they themselves felt so intrusive.

"Gawd! Reno, you don't even know what this means to me," Yuffie said, smearing away the happy tears falling down her face. "I never thought you guys would go separate ways, you know? I always thought it would be 'Turks before perks' or something that rhymes better. 'The gun before the fun' maybe?"

Overwhelmed by love for the exasperating ninja, Reno stood and slung his arms around her, lifting her up and against him. She squealed; laughing raucously while behind them Reeve cringed and mentally formulated apology speeches.

"Time to go, Yuffie. I want the grand tour, starting with your bedroom," Reno said, carefully maneuvering the girl's wriggling, giggling form towards the door.

"Our bedroom now, Turkey," she grinned, twining her fabric laden arms around his neck. "Though you aren't allowed to touch my awesome stuff."

"Babe, I'm totally going to touch your awesome stuff," he deadpanned as they walked out of sight.

"Lame!" Yuffie shrieked, laughing, voice fading into the distance.

The silence left behind them was deafening.

"As you can see," Reeve said, coughing slightly though he didn't know if it was to cover a laugh or a sob, "not only is the WRO extremely dedicated to ensuring the happiness of our world leaders, but our employees as well. We like to think of every citizen…"

* * *

**The End**

* * *

Author's Notes: **Thank you, thank you, thank you!** Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed so frequently. Thank you to everyone who offered their support, their thoughts and their opinions. Thank you to everyone who read this story. Thank you to everyone who enjoyed it.

I really hope you had a good read. I freaking adore these two together and it was fun as heck to write. (I also loved writing the CidxYuffie parts. I love Cid. I love writing him. If it wasn't for Reno's sexy coolness I would totally hook that rough and tumble pilot up with that little ninja.)

**Shout outs to Pen Against Sword, Black Sheep of Death, Jingyee, Bruhaeven, The Sacred and Profane, Kaikai PANTS, Spikey44, xTxNxLx, MyIncentive, dollyrot, splenetic and everyone else who regularly reviewed.** Thank you to everyone who just reviewed once as well. I read every single one of them and I sincerely appreciate that you take the time to let me know what your thoughts are.

Yea, that's right. I said shout outs.


End file.
